On the morning of May 7th, the opening ceremony of the Seminar on Diversified Financing Mechanisms for Mauritania was successfully held. The seminar is sponsored by the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) and organized by the MOFCOM Training Base for International Business Officials (Shanghai) of Shanghai Business School (SBS). Zhou Jihong, Deputy Secretary of the CPC Party Branch of the College of International Education, and Mi Jinhong, Professor from the School of Economics and Management, Shanghai Maritime University, attended the opening ceremony and delivered speeches.
China and Mauritania enjoy traditional friendly relations. Since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1965, bilateral relations have maintained healthy and stable development. The diplomacy between our leaders has laid out a transformative vision for the advancement of bilateral ties in this new epoch. In July 2023, the two countries signed a cooperation plan on jointly building the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), proposing to deepen mutually beneficial collaboration in infrastructure, trade and investment, fiscal and financial sectors, agriculture, forestry and water resources, as well as cultural and people-to-people exchanges. The plan aims to advance high-standard, sustainable, and livelihood-enhancing projects, further solidify the high-quality development of BRI cooperation between the two nations, and better promote the well-being of their peoples.
Zhou Jihong noted that in the context of the new era, enterprise financing faces new opportunities and challenges. Diversified financing mechanisms have become a key driving force for enterprise development, but they also bring problems such as lagging risk prevention mechanisms and imperfect laws and regulations. China's experience in financing mechanism reform not only provides beneficial reference for enterprises but also helps to strengthen cooperation between China and Mauritania, enhance talent capabilities, jointly address global economic challenges, and achieve high-quality development.
Mi Jinhong stated that over the past decade, under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative, infrastructure financing has exceeded US$ 1 trillion, covering more than 150 countries and driving employment and development. China emphasizes both the market logic and sustainability of financing, promoting the implementation of numerous projects with extensive social benefits. This seminar is not only a sharing of knowledge but also an exchange of ideas and a catalyst for cooperation. He expressed his hope that through 21 days of learning, new ideas will be injected into the optimization of Mauritania's financing mechanisms, and that the two sides will work hand in hand on the path of development.
Mr. Nouredine Francois, a representative of the seminar participants and Federal Chairman of the Nouakchott-West Region from Mauritania's Equity Party, stated that China and Mauritania have long maintained friendly cooperative relations. He expressed admiration for China's development achievements, noting that they serve as a model worthy of global learning. Currently, diversified financing strategies have become key to achieving sustainable development, helping to enhance economic resilience and the ability to meet challenges. Mauritania highly values cooperation with China and is willing to continue deepening bilateral friendship and cooperation to jointly promote development and prosperity.
The Seminar on Diversified Financing Mechanisms for Mauritania is 21 days long and has 23 participants from the Mauritanian Equity Party, the Ministry of Economy and Finance, and other departments. The seminar will arrange for participants to conduct field trips to Shenzhen and Zhuhai, Guangdong Province.
Written by: Zhang Xinyue
Photograph by: Li Zheng
Reviewed by: Chen Wei
