China-Africa Cooperation: South African president invites Alibaba to boost its digital economy

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02:46

After attending a summit in Beijing, South Africa's President is visiting one of China's tech giants. Cyril Ramaphosa toured Alibaba's headquarters in Hangzhou, encouraging the company's founder, Jack Ma, to invest in South Africa. CGTN's Wu Lei has more.

Before heading back to South Africa, President Cyril Ramaphosa led a delegation of ministers and officials to visit Tech Giant Alibaba Group. He invited Alibaba's founder Jack Ma to help his country with its digital economic development.

Ma visited three African countries just last month. He says Africa is a land full of opportunities and hope. Alibaba recently launched a 10 million dollar Netpreneur Prize in Africa. It's a new program created to support and fund African entrepreneurs working to further its digital economy.

JACK MA, FOUNDER & EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN ALIBABA GROUP "Today's Africa's infrastructure is not perfect, not good, but that is the opportunity. So this is what we believe, because it is poor, there is a chance for you to jump. We are confident in Africa, we think the entrepreneurs, the young people, all the things to do, we should start to do now."

During the FOCAC summit, China and African countries set detailed guidelines for cooperation and development in the coming years. Digital platforms are expected to play a key role in boosting multilateral trade.

CYRIL RAMAPHOSA SOUTH AFRICAN PRESIDENT "In our case, South Africa wants to sell more value-added products, because China is such a good partner in this. They have welcomed this, and precisely what they say is they want to work with us, they want to enable all of us to win."

South Africa is one of the continent's most developed countries in terms of internet infrastructure. Its president hopes Alibaba and other Chinese tech giants will seize the chance and boost their e-commerce growth. WL, CGTN, Hangzhou, Zhejiang province.