On September 18, 2026, Du Xiaohui, Director-General of the Department of African Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and his delegation came to the Shahe campus of China Foreign Affairs University and delivered a special ideological and political education lecture on the theme of 'Starting from Zero Tariffs for Africa' to teachers and students of the School of International Economics. This event was an important part of the University's ideological and political education course under the 'Diplomatic Iron Army: Passing the Torch' program.

Before the lecture, Director-General Du Xiaohui and his delegation, accompanied by Gao Fei, President of China Foreign Affairs University, Zhou Li, full-time Deputy Secretary of the CPC Committee, and other leaders, visited the university history exhibition to learn in depth about the University's development history and educational achievements.

Subsequently, President Gao Fei presented Director-General Du Xiaohui with a letter of appointment as an (external) mentor for Party building and ideological-political work.

The lecture was chaired by Deputy Secretary Zhou Li, and more than one hundred representatives of teachers and students from the School of International Economics, the Publicity Department of the Party Committee and the School of Marxism attended.

Drawing on his frontline diplomatic work, Director-General Du Xiaohui shared with teachers and students the historical evolution, concrete results and systemic integration effects of zero-tariff treatment for Africa, and used it as an entry point to introduce China-Africa relations. He said that China-Africa friendship has a long history. Since the new era, President Xi Jinping has successively put forward the principles of sincerity, real results, amity and good faith and of pursuing the greater good and shared interests in China's Africa policy, and proposed six propositions for China and Africa to jointly advance modernization, charting a blueprint for China-Africa cooperation. China's full implementation of zero-tariff measures for the 53 African countries having diplomatic relations with China is a 'golden name card' of China-Africa cooperation in the new era — unilateral preferential treatment that benefits both peoples — injecting strong impetus into practical China-Africa cooperation and Africa's development, and contributing to the Global South working together to promote global economic development.

In the interactive session, teachers and students raised questions enthusiastically on topics such as the qualities required of diplomatic talent, China's Africa policy, and how university students should prepare themselves. Drawing on his own experience and work, Director-General Du answered the questions one by one.

    Participating teachers and students said in agreement that Director-General Du's lecture was rich in content and far-sighted, closely addressing both the practical topics of China-Africa cooperation and frontline diplomatic practice. It provided an important window for teachers and students to see up close how diplomats serve the country and to further understand the great significance of China-Africa cooperation, and further strengthened their sense of responsibility and mission to devote themselves to foreign-related economic and trade undertakings and serve the building of a strong country.

Going forward, the School of International Economics of China Foreign Affairs University will strengthen organized research in service of the nation's diplomatic strategic tasks, continuously advance the effective implementation of the 'Diplomatic Iron Army: Passing the Torch' program, and cultivate more reserve talent capable of shouldering the responsibilities of major-country diplomacy with Chinese characteristics for the building of a strong country and the great cause of national rejuvenation.