Bathed in the gentle and pleasant autumn breeze of September, the 4th Investing in Africa Forum, one of the highest-level international conferences, was held in Changsha. More than 400 guests, including two African heads of state and over 30 officials at vice-ministerial level and above, gathered here to create a grand gathering for win-win cooperation. Co-hosted by China's Ministry of Finance, the Hunan Provincial Government, China Development Bank and the World Bank, a series of activities like roundtable conferences, seminars and cooperation project promotion meetings has been carried out around the forum theme of "deepening investment cooperation, making innovations to promote sustainable development and mutual prosperity of China and Africa", so as to further build consensus and create a new situation for Sino-African investment cooperation.

Professor Chen Xiaohong, academician of Chinese Academy of Engineering and honorary dean of Central South University Business School, was invited to participate in the digital economy and innovation seminar. As the first guest speaker of China, she put forward her unique opinions on the development of China's digital economy and its reference significance to Africa. “China has tasted the sweet of the digital economy, which has exceeded 26 trillion yuan in 2017 with a 17 percent year-on-year growth, significantly higher than the GDP growth in the same period," she noted, “The digital economy has comprehensively transformed China's production, living and consumption patterns. Chinese universities and vocational schools, including middle schools, have made digital transformation in terms of discipline construction, curriculum setting and talent cultivation to meet the development needs of digital economy. Traditional industries have also increasingly emphasized the development of grafting, crossing, intersecting and integration. China has a lot of successful experience in the field of digital economy, which can help Africa achieve digital transformation, and then realize the transformation and innovation of new technologies, new business forms and new models.”

Also being invited as speakers were the director of the Digital Development Bureau of the World Bank, the minister of Finance of South Africa, the minister of Industry and Investment of Djibouti and the general manager of Huawei mobile payment. After the forum, Professor Chen Xiaohong was also invited to be interviewed by Hunan TV, Hunan Economic TV and other media.