On July 15, 2025, the opening ceremony of the Seminar on Urban Search and Rescue Capacity Building for African Countries was held in Beijing, which was sponsored by the Ministry of Commerce of China and organized by the International Exchange and Cooperation Center (IECC) of the Ministry of Emergency Management of China.
Zhang Xiaoning, Director General of IECC, Wang Zhiqiu, and Deputy Director General of China Earthquake Emergency Search and Rescue Center attended the activity. 31 participants from seven African countries, including Cameroon, Gambia, Kenya, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, South Sudan and Tanzania, were present at the event.
Zhang Xiaoning pointed out in his speech that China and African countries, all as developing countries, are natural partners based on equality and mutual benefit and committed to common development. Since the establishment of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in 2000, practical cooperation between the two sides has been continuously deepened, and fruitful results have been achieved in the field of safety and emergency management. In September 2024 especially, FOCAC was successfully held in Beijing when 53 African countries gathered in Beijing, bilateral relations between China and all African countries with diplomatic relations with China were upgraded to the strategic level, marking the beginning of a stage for jointly building an all-round China-Africa community with a shared future in the new era.
Facing the severe challenges brought by the intensified climate change, China and Africa have carried out close cooperation and mutual assistance in the field of disaster prevention, mitigation and relief. Zhang Xiaoning emphasized that natural disasters are happening frequently on the African continent, and it is of great significance to strengthen international cooperation in the field of emergency management. As the largest developing country, China is willing to provide useful demonstrations and experience for African partners through our successful practices in the field of emergency management.
The Chief Staff Officer of National Multi-Agency Command Centre (NMACC), the Ministry of Interior and National Administration of Kenya, said in his speech that he hoped to learn from and draw on China's advanced management experience in urban search and rescue through this seminar, so as to comprehensively improve the disaster response capacity of African cities. He looked forward to continuously deepening exchanges and cooperation with China in the field of disaster prevention and mitigation, and jointly making positive efforts to reduce disaster risks and protect people's lives and property.
The seminar will last for 14 days. IECC will invite experts from China Earthquake Emergency Search and Rescue Center, China Foreign Affairs University, Beihang University, and Fujian Cross-Strait Comprehensive Training Base for Emergency and Firefighting, to give classroom teaching and case-based teaching. IECC will also arrange on-site visits in Sanming and Longyan in Fujian, southeast China.
As an important manifestation of practical cooperation between China and Africa in the field of safety and emergency management, the seminar aims to promote the practical cooperation in disaster prevention and mitigation under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative, and inject new impetus into the long-term partnership between China and Africa in the field of emergency management.
