On June 6, 2026, Professor Zhang Chun, tenured professor at the School of International and Public Affairs, Shanghai Jiaotong University, visited SFL and gave a lecture titled “Africa’s Pursuit of Strategic Autonomy and Its Challenges Amid the Rise of the Global South.” The lecture was hosted by Professor Wang Xingang, Director of the Center for Syrian Studies.
Professor Zhang systematically reviewed the three-stage evolution of African strategic autonomy: from 1991 to 2008, it focused on political and security autonomy and escaping external intervention; from 2008 to 2022, it turned to economic development autonomy under the African Union’s Agenda 2063; and since 2022, it has entered a new stage of sustainable autonomy that balances crisis response with shaping the international order. Data show that from 2013 to 2023, more than half of African countries improved governance, local governance authority rebounded, and multilayer cooperation mechanisms took shape in security, gradually gaining the initiative.
Professor Zhang also noted challenges. Economically, Africa has advanced integration through the African Continental Free Trade Area and cross-regional infrastructure, but faces a US$3.3 trillion funding gap, while connectivity has given rise to risks such as cross-border smuggling and extremist activities. Africa is also promoting transformation of the global system, redressing colonial injustices, participating in climate governance rule-making, and leveraging critical mineral resources to seek a fairer voice.
At the end, Professor Zhang shared China-Africa cooperation development paths and interacted with faculty and students on African modernization and China-Africa cooperation in education and minerals.
The lecture was broad in vision and well-evidenced. Grounded in the changing Global South, it analyzed Africa’s geopolitical development and clarified the opportunities and real difficulties in Africa’s strategic autonomy. It broadened SFL faculty and students’ horizons in Country and Region Studies, deepened their understanding of Africa’s geopolitical landscape and China-Africa cooperation, and laid a solid foundation for the School’s future academic research in Country and Region Studies and for building on-and-off-campus academic exchange platforms.
Speaker: Professor Zhang Chun
Host: Professor Wang Xingang
Venue
School Homepage
中文
