Necessity of Restructuring the China-Africa Education Cooperation to Leverage the Fastest-Growing Economic Ties

Study Focus: This article put forward the necessity of rebalancing the China-Africa Fastest-Growing Economic Ties with a Leveraged Education Cooperation as well as the necessity of restructuring the actual patterns of ChinaAfrica Education Cooperation. Methodology: The content of this paper relies on written documents (including books, scientific journals, articles, and official reports) from primary and secondary sources most of which are available online as well as on the author’s teaching experience in Chinese and African Universities.

as well as "management policies sharing" on the Cameroonian side, while on the Chinese side "the Internationalization of China's Universities", "the extension of China's soft-power", "the improvement of National image", "the job opportunities for Chinese teachers and volunteers send in Africa", "the establishment of Confucius Institutes on the continent", etc. ( Mvuh & Liu,2019). In a word, China's main benefits are the internationalization of its education and the extension of China's soft-power in Africa. Some critics have voiced out concern on the internationalization of education saying that it leads to the erosion of local education systems and indigenous values and norms, which tend to be replaced with the internationalizing systems and cultural and ideological values and orientation (Vanessa, 2017).This case study is a typical pattern of the current China-Africa education cooperation that historically has been an important content of the FOCAC, and technically could be found under different labels such as "scholarships", "cultural partnerships", "mutual learning", "knowledge sharing", "research", "capacity building", "training opportunities", "people-to-people exchanges", etc. They have been promises of more support to African countries wishing to establish Confucius Institutes. Equally, at the university level, they have been financial encouragement to African universities to establish Chinese research centers and to Chinese universities to open more African research centers (KING, 2019). In a word China has been investing a lot in education cooperation with African countries, and the outcomes of that cooperation have been very pragmatic and tangible in some cases. Nevertheless, the pattern has been largely criticized by the western media and academic circles. Alden & Large argue that, even though Education and Human Resources Development have been constant features of the FOCAC Action Plans, there has been relatively little academic research on these dimensions. For instance, in a recent volume on New Directions in Africa-China Studies, none of the 21 chapters examine the history or contemporary aspects of Africa-China studies in education (Alden & Large, 2019). Moreover, FOCAC pledges have been criticized for being announced at a Pan African level, but not, at the fora, allocated to specific countries across the continent. Statistics also show that, a great deal of Chinese support in education cooperation is oriented to the most strategic BRI countries. Already in 2017, no less than 66% of all Chinese government scholarships were going to students in the BRI countries. It was noted besides that 153 Confucius Institutes were operating in 54 BRI countries. (King, 2019). The Confucius Institutes have been labeled by some as "Trojan horses" . Already in 2009, James F. was claiming that the Confucius Institute project can be seen at one level as an attempt to increase Chinese language learning and an appreciation of Chinese culture, but at another level, it is part of a broader soft power projection in which China is attempting to win hearts and minds for political purposes. And that besides Confucius Institutes, some other ways China raises its cultural profile overseas include Chinese contemporary art exhibitions, television programs, concerts by popular singers, and translations of Chinese literature. (James F, 2009).According to Fabrice De Pierrebourg and Michel Juneau-Katsuya, some individuals holding positions within the Confucius Institute system have backgrounds in Chinese security agencies and United Front Work Department, "which manages important dossiers concerning foreign countries. These include propaganda, the control of Chinese students abroad, the recruiting of agents among the Chinese diaspora (and among sympathetic foreigners), and long-term clandestine operations." ( Fabrice& Michel, 2009). The Chinese responses to these sharp accusations and criticisms have been straightforward. An article from the state-run China Daily outlined that "Confucius Institutes' work is misunderstood from time to time", citing the example of Mosher calling Confucius Institutes "Trojan Horses with Chinese characteristics." Another response from the director-general of the Hanban (headquarter of Confucius Institutes located in the Chinese capital Beijing), Xu Lin, emphasized that "The Confucius Institutes are not Trojan Horses since we are holding no weapons in our hands." (Qu Yingpu, Zhao Huanxin & Cheng Ying, 2012). The People's Daily, another Chinese state-run newspaper reported Osaka Sangyo University, which opened a Confucius Institute and closed it after one year of operation. The Japanese institution formally apologized for an employee who called the Confucius Institute "a spy agency established to gather cultural intelligence."(Source: People's Daily, 12 June 2010). Confucius Institutes are frequently compared to cultural associations such as the UK's British Council (Jessica, 2007), Germany's Goethe-Institut (Justin, 2011), France's Alliance Française, Italy's Società Dante Alighieri, and Spain's Instituto Cervantes (Alexander K. & Ting Song, 2012). For instance, an editorial in the state-owned China Daily newspaper accused Confucius Institute opponents of double standards of not calling "Goethe-Institut, Alliance Française or Cervantes Institutes propaganda vehicles or tools of cultural invasion". The editorial noted that "China is not the first to set up such institutes nor does it have a monopoly over overseas cultural promotion." (Liu Chang, 2010) Steven Mosher notes: "Unlike Alliance Francaise, the Confucius Institutes are not independent of their government; unlike the Goethe-Institute establishments, they do not occupy their premises. Instead, participating universities agree to provide office space in exchange for funding, and to cede academic control to the United Front Work Department of the Chinese Communist Party."(Mosher, 2012) China is opening up and willing to embrace the world, making the utmost efforts to strengthen cooperation in all sectors. Africa is in great need of education development and is largely opening its arms to embrace cooperation with China. However, the controversies in the above few examples show that there is a necessity to restructure the actual patterns of education cooperation between China and African countries so that to ensure their sustainability and improve the overall image of both sides. It is for Chinese and African scholars a sole duty to brainstorm new patterns of cooperation International Journal of African and Asian Studies www.iiste.org ISSN 2409-6938 An International Peer-reviewed Journal Vol.62, 2020 16 and so to pave new ways for an in-depth study and understanding of China and Africa.

Status quo of African Studies in China and Chinese Studies in Africa
Africa is known to be the origin of Mankind, and together with China both are cradles of human civilizations with long histories and splendid cultures. The "Study" of each other can be traced back to a distant past as suggest records of early contact between China and Africa. In fact, there is a record of African Acrobats visiting China as early as at the 2nd Century B.C. while already in 1405-1433, the Ming dynasty, in the Chinese navigator Zheng He sailed westward through the Indian Ocean and beyond for seven times, out of which he reached the African coast four times. (Source: Assistant foreign minister of the People's Republic of China, Zhai Jun 2009). Even though ancient academic or intellectual exchanges between both sides are not clearly mapped out, still they are claims of earlier Chinese maps of Africa, far before the western exploration of the continent.

Figure1. Map of earliest Chinese Navigator Sailing the East African Waters
In brief, the Chinese Study of Africa and the African Study of China is not a contemporary story, but a continuous course of very old history that can be traced back before the Christian era. The foundation of New China in 1949 opened up a new era of China-Africa relations. In May 1956, China's establishments of diplomatic ties with Egypt opened up diplomatic relations between new China and African countries and pave the way to a new academic era of China-Africa Studies.

Necessity to restructure the African Studies in China
African Studies in contemporary China is merely a half-century story, period of human history that has been marked by western ideological domination in almost all parts of the world. The Colonial motives brought Europeans to a much larger, wider and deeper study of contemporary Africa as earlier as the 14th century. Moreover, the extended European imperialism in Asia, and most specifically in China the 18th Century have created an indirect connection between Africa and the East, and therefore influenced the study and knowledge of Africa by the Chinese. This indirect linkage has been the origin of distortions and bias plugging the knowledge content on Africa in the Chinese education curriculum. Professor Liu Hongwu, one of the leading Chinese Africanist, Changjiang Scholar of the Chinese Ministry of Education in his book <African Studies from Chinese Perspective> summed up the root problem of the African Studies in Chinese academia as follow: "After modern times, due to the gradual baptism of the western wind and the European civilization, Chinese people have gained a new dimension of world cognition, and their world outlook and self-knowledge have been broadened and changed. However, the western empire was so strong that China, which was relatively backward, tried to recognize the west in the process of saving the nation from extinction and translating western learning, thinking that the path of reform was to seek for strength. Over the past 100 years, Chinese people have made great achievements in learning from the west. This process of "learning from Europe and America" has itself become one of the reflections of the Renaissance and the rise of Chinese civilization. However, in this process, western civilization which was so strong was understood by the Chinese as a universal world civilization, and some Chinese took western civilization as the synonym of modern civilization Taking the scale of western civilization as the scale of all civilizations, the result is that Chinese people's world concept has unconsciously formed a 'Sino-Western dual dimension', and the 'opening-up' to the outside world has almost become 'opening-up to western civilization'". In many cases, what we call "Chinese and foreign civilizations" has become "Chinese and western civilizations". A comparative study of Chinese and foreign civilizations is actually a comparative study of Chinese and western civilizations (Liu Hongwu, 2019).It appears clear that there is an urgent necessity to restructure the African Studies in the Chinese academia so that to create more direct connection, a sort of full contact of the Chinese to the African experiences. At the same time these restructurings should create rooms for the Chinese roadmap of rejuvenation, therefore should take into account the Chinese characteristics of development so that to strengthen a better Chinese and African "community with shared future". The year 2000 was a turning moment for China to revitalized its policies for a better cognition of Africa with the launching of the FOCAC, a platform that has ever since its creation played an unprecedented role in speeding up the dialogues and concertation between leaders of China and African countries. Since then on, overwhelming policies and reform in China in favor of African Studies have been enacted. It was therefore officially announced that China has decided to establish the Chinese academy of African Studies to deepen mutual learning among civilizations and Africa. The establishment of the Chinese Academy of African studies was listed as the first task of the people-to-people exchange initiative among the eight initiatives. The Chinese academy of social sciences was to be the sponsor of the China-African Institute. The aim of the China-African Institute is to deepen mutual learning with African countries, enhance exchanges of experience in governance and development, and provide intellectual and human resources support for China-Africa Cooperation in the "One Belt And One Road" initiative, the building of a future-oriented comprehensive strategic partnership of cooperation, and the building of a closer China-Africa community with a Shared Future. Relying on the strong research strength of the Chinese academy of social sciences and the sound foundation of cooperation with Africa, the China-African Institute will organize and carry out its work in a variety of ways and channels, presenting a work pattern integrating research, exchange, training and communication, and fully reflecting the characteristics of high-end, comprehensive, professional and sustainable work. The China-African Institute will support exchanges and cooperation between Chinese and African academics and think tanks in various forms, including joint research, academic visits, seminars and personnel training. On April 9, 2010, the inaugural meeting of the China-African Institute was held in Beijing. Yang Jiechi, the member of the political bureau of the CPC central committee and director of the office of the central foreign affairs commission, attended the congress. Chinese President Xi Jinping sent a congratulatory letter to the establishment of the China-African Institute. Representatives of Chinese and African government departments, academic institutions, think tanks, social celebrities and African nationals in China attended the conference along with 350 people(Source: People's Daily). Some of these prominent Chinese institutions have extended their branches in Africa or established a closer partnership with African Universities. The recruitment of African teachers and researchers in these Chinese institutions has also been on the rise. One of the most illustrative examples is the Institute of African Studies at Zhejiang Normal University where I am currently holding a position as Vice Director of the Center for Francophone Studies. The Institute Since its creation in 2007 has created a branch in South Africa, establish a partnership with several African Universities, recruited up to 8 African teachers from countries such as Nigeria, South Africa, Cameroon, Mali, Somalia, Mauritania, Burundi, lunched its own Journal of African Studies, establish its own and the African Museum in a Chinese University,…. The institute has gain recognition from African scholars and institutions, co-hosted several international fora in China and Africa, and been visited by more than a dozen of African ambassadors. It's one of the leading institutions of African Studies in Chinese academia and the unique one led by a Chinese scholar who has Studied Africa. This is perhaps one of the main reasons for the institutions' success, for there is no better way to understand Africa's reality than living in Africa and studying with Africans in African institutions. Professor Liu is among the first Chinese Africanist to acknowledge the problem of "Sino-western duality in Chinese academia" and to point out the necessity of de-westernizing the minds of the Chinese scholarship for a better study of Africa. This is a fundamental step to lay down a genuine curriculum of African Studies in Chinese academia. However, a lot remains to be done, for the mindsets of people will not easily change as long as international media discourses about Africa remain that of poverty, wars, and migration.

Necessity of Restructuring the Chinese Studies in Africa
There is no doubt that China is overwhelmingly embracing African countries in its opening up agenda. It suffices to follow the roadmap of official visits of top Chinese leaderships in African countries the last ten years to have a clear understanding, added to the number of Chinese people and businesses operating on the continent. On the other side, African countries driven by their own agendas (among others the UN 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda, AU Agenda 2063, and the development strategies of individual African countries…), seem to converge opinions in welcoming China's support and partnership. The 6 th edition of the FOCAC summit held in Beijing the September 4 th , 2018, for example, gathered 40 African head of states around the same table with the Chinese leadership led by president Xi Jingping, under the witness eyes of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, its Excellency Mr. Antonio Guterres. In brief, there are shared interests and pledges in the ongoing China-Africa relationship. However, the lack of a deep study and proper understanding of China by African countries, may not help achieves some of the pledges or in the long-run compromise some African interests in the relation. It is a fact that today's Africans Education curriculums suffer from westernization even more than any other place in the world. As direct consequences of centuries of western indoctrination under colonial rule, Africans have gradually lost their own cultural identities and values. As a product of tailored western education, a great deal of today's African scholarship has come to accept the western world's views as universal. There is no denying that the actual scholastic discourses on China in Africa are hindered by western interferences from media coverage to politics and economy.
In this golden decade of opportunities, it is a great time for the African scholarship to have a much deeper study of China and demarcate their opinions and views on China from that of the West. These shifts in postures and attitudes should be operated at the individual level, at the institutional level and most importantly at the governmental level. At the individual level, for example, a de-westernization of the African scholarships' mind is a prior step that should be branded by the rebirth of the African identity and self-cognition, only then the African scholarship will embrace the world with a single a unique perspective that better serves the interest of Africa. At the institutional level, the creation of Chinese studies Centers led by African scholars in African Universities, the signing and implementation of MoU's between Chinese and African Universities as well as many cooperation fora on education and knowledge sharing among African and Chinese Universities over the continent should be considered. At the governmental level, more soft policies should be enacted to encourage African scholars' visits and research in China, more financial supports for research and student exchanges as well as specialized scholarships and training programs should be provided, but most importantly these research programs or scholarships should be followed up through diplomatic canals to make sure the target is reached and that the results benefit the country. In a word, Africans should be subjects and initiators of Chinese Studies and should carry them on in their own institutions to solve their most urgent Chinese related affairs, a sort of genuine African sinology or "Afrisinology". Some slight efforts have been made at the institutional and governmental levels in some African countries to achieve the purpose of "Africa's study of China from an African perspective". And Chinese diplomacy seems to supports such efforts; I mean efforts that go far beyond the Confucius Institutes agenda of "Chinese language and culture's dissemination from the Chinese perspective".

Case of Egypt.
For instance, China and Egypt on April 24, 2005, signed an agreement on establishing the Egyptian Chinese University (ECU) in Cairo, the Egyptian capital. First, of its kind in Africa, The university was established by a presidential decree as a non-profit organization, offering a higher level of academic education in the fields of engineering, physical therapy, economics, international trade, pharmacy and medical technology in collaboration with top Chinese Universities such as Beijing Jiao Tong University, Liaoning University, Hubei University, North China Electric Power University.

Figure2: The photo shows president of China's Liaoning University Cheng Wei (R) and Karima Abdullah Karim (L), the board chairwoman of Egypt's International Education Institution (IEI) at the signing ceremony( People's Daily April 26, 2005).
International Journal of African and Asian Studies www.iiste.org ISSN 2409-6938 An International Peer-reviewed Journal Vol.62, 2020 It is to be noticed Egypt is the very first Africa country to sign diplomatic ties with the new China in 1957, and one of the strategic country of the BRI initiative, and also that historically, the first Africans to set boots in China were Egyptian acrobats in 112 B.C. "Egypt has always been in the frontline of playing a leadership role on the Continent, and taking its responsibility as old Civilization". Just as mentioned Ashraf el-Shihy, the ECU president in an interview with Xinhua News, a Chinese State-run journal, he further stressed that "China is not just a country, but it is a very big industrial and trade power. The ECU is a result of the natural approach between the oldest two civilizations in history: Egypt and China. (...) The ECU is the first and only one of its kind in the Middle East and Africa…The total number of ECU students so far is about 2,500. We care for providing highquality education than having a large number of students, which is why our classrooms are small but so many" said the ECU president and Egypt's former higher education minister Ashraf el-Shihy (Yurou, 2019).

Figure3: Egyptian Chinese University (ECU) Case of Nigeria.
The University Of Lagos (UNILAG), Akoka has unveiled the institute of Nigeria-China Development Studies (NCDS), a research institute established to inject new vitality into Nigeria-China development as well as collaboration in order to strengthen the relationship between both countries. The unveiling, which took place at the institution's senate chambers was followed by a signing of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between UNILAG and Chinese Investors Association for Development and Promotion (CIADP). Addressing reporters on the occasion of the unveiling of NCDS, the vice-chancellor, Prof Oluwatoyin Ogundipe said the institute was established to brace up with current trends in global affairs. Prof. Olufemi Saibu, Director of the Institute of Nigeria-China Development Studies, UNILAG, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that Nigeria should also establish a similar center in China. According to him, there has been a lot of misunderstanding between Nigerians and Chinese due to lack of openness, issues of mindset and language inhibitions. We are working at how best to create more understanding between Nigerians and the Chinese. We want to trust the Chinese as much as we want the Chinese to trust us. (Maria Diamond, 2018)  innovative and policy relevant analysis of the relations between China and Africa. It promotes the exchange of knowledge, ideas and experiences between China and Africa. The first of its kind in South Africa, the CCS at Stellenbosch University housed in the Postgraduate and International Office. Despite having its own philosophy of analyzing the China-Africa cooperation, the Centre has maintains close ties to the Confucius Institute at Stellenbosch University, and has set up co-operative linkages with key universities and institutions in China, pursuing both research collaboration and academic exchanges, including the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies (SIIS), Shanghai, the Institute for African Studies at Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua, the Institute of West Asian and African Studies (IWAAS), Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing.

Figure5: official webpage of the CCS Case of Tanzania.
In Dar Es Salaam (Tanzania), was launched the Center for Chinese Studies at the University of Dar Es Salaam by the Tanzanian Minister for Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation, Augustine Mahiga. Inaugurating the Center at the University of Dar es Salaam, Mahiga said: "The Center for Chinese Studies will be a case study for Tanzanians to learn how China advanced from a poor country to an economic powerhouse". She added that the Center will also enable Tanzanians to conduct in-depth research on the relevance of China's development experience to the development of Tanzania and Africa in general. The Center for Chinese Studies in Tanzania was the third research institutes in Africa specialized in Chinese studies at the time of its inauguration after the Center for Chinese Studies at Stellenbosch University in South Africa and the Center for Chinese Studies in Nigeria. Wang Ke, the Chinese Ambassador to Tanzania stated at the opening ceremony that "To better understand China, you need to be objective and independent in thinking. Only in this way you can present a real China to the people in Tanzania and other African countries". "Development is the biggest challenge facing the world, and China's experience in development may be helpful to African countries," said the Chinese envoy. (Mu Xuequan, 2018). It is noteworthy that francophone African countries still lag behind, this is explained partly by the large influence of France on its ancient colonies but also by the lack of the political will of francophone African leaders to step up and make the necessary decisions. However Senegal will be the next host of the FOCAC 2021, while countries such as Mali and Burkinafaso have projected to create African Centers for Chinese studies. The University of Yaoundé II of Cameroon which is the host of one of the earliest Confucius institute in Africa have signed several MoU with Chinese University. The latest one in date was at the 2019 Forum on China-Africa Film and TV Cooperation were MoU was signed between the University of Yaounde II and Zhejiang Normal University. The July 3th-5th was the effective date were the forum took place at the Salomon Tandem Muna Foundation in Yaoundé the capital city of Cameroon, with the effective participation of many leaders and Scholars from China and Cameroon. I hosted and translated for the forum and gave a speech as African scholar as well, proposing from a balanced view of an African who have studied and worked in China, some basic steps that could speed up the China-Africa film and TV cooperation and strengthen the people to people exchanges such as the setting up of co-International Journal of African and Asian Studies www.iiste.org ISSN 2409-6938 An International Peer-reviewed Journal Vol.62, 2020 21 research programs between our Chinese and Cameroonian Universities in the field of Cinema, the Co-direction of Sino-Cameroonian movies as well as the active participation of Cameroonian movies in Chinese movies festivals and vice versa, the establishment of Sino-African movie festivals were experts on both sides could gather and exchange experience.

Figure6. Cooperation Agreement was signed between the University of Yaoundé II of Cameroon and Zhejiang Normal University of China
Figure7. Family photo of Chinese and African Scholars and Chinese-Cameroonian government's officials present at the forum (Author with the microphone as the official host of the forum) Even though lagging behind on Anglophone African countries, these few examples illustrate the will of the Francophone African countries to actively step up education cooperation with China as well.
imaginative construction suggested by the results of critical and exhaustive investigation devised to guide, or direct, his research and understanding. A theory, rather than being a dispensable luxury or unnecessary encumbrance to empirical research, provides a way of seeing and a tool for investigation; sinologists are to be dismissed as pseudo-scientists because they do not command a Sinological theory, a fact they religiously keep from outsiders. The foundations and philosophy of sinology have not been written yet; The Sinologist is a toucheà-tout sans profondeur, a jack-of-all-trades but a master of none." (Hans, 2000)The objet？ The method? The theory? No matter what, we cannot deny that Sinology has provided the west with a better understanding of China and has strengthened the relationship between East and West, but most importantly is much needed in today's China opening up and reforms. Especially when we take into account projects such as one belt one road, AIIB, etc. monitored by China but where cooperation with the world is a must.

Afrisinology: Concept proposal for a Genuine African Sinology
The dynamics of the changing global geopolitics have driven China and African Countries closer at this particular time of the world development history. As Africa is entering a new era of relationship with the world, it is the right time to re-design theoretical foundations and practical frameworks that will re-orient its international cooperation and guide its strategic partnerships. In that regard, China as the current biggest trading partner of Africa and most important investors of the continent is with no doubt a quite important (and perhaps the most important at this time) object of study. China's Politics, Economics, Cultures, Literary, Languages, Religions, and even History and Geography should be closely studied in the African education curriculum, but most importantly like the West, Africa should have its own appraisal of China. From a theoretical basis to a proper methodology, from institutionalized frameworks to government policies, an epistemic assessment of China by the African Academia is of urgent need. African academic institutions have to host research programs and subject disciplines that focus on the most urgent China-Africa current affairs while taking into account the social-cultural and historical particularities of China. And such programs should be led by African scholars, mainly those who have experienced China. In other words, a true African Sinology or "Afrisinology" has to take place in African academia, a sort of Africa-centered study of China that fulfills traditional discipline criteria. "Afrisinology" as a Genuine African Sinology must use socio-scientific methods to critically examine and investigate its main object (China), understand the Chinese spirit, by all means, draw the benefits in relation to the core interests of African people. "Afrisinology", the African study of China must answer the ongoing interrogations on the China-Africa ambiguous relations where many still wonder whether China is exploiting Africa. These answers must not be brought neither by Eastern nor by Western scholars, but by the "Africa Experts of China", namely the "Afrisinologists" whose ultimate goal is to use theories to affect the minds, use methods to anticipate on decisions making. However, we are fully aware that a genuine African Sinology will not happen without challenges, as Western and Chinese Sinology themselves remain confronted with various disciplines criteria's challenges. The surest way to embarrass a sinologist is to inquire what variables, constants and parameters he uses, and how (strongly) they are interrelated; what postulates, or assumptions, his readings are built upon; how he operates to derive his conclusions; where his pen-products progress from meticulous description to analysis, that is to say, sinological analysis; what classification rules he follows regarding the objects within his domain; or what problems he considers to be fundamental in his profession. The foundations and philosophy of sinology have not been written yet; it would even appear that sinologists, much to their disadvantage, are not interested in the foundations and philosophy of science at all. We are still waiting for the Principia Sinologica. (Hans, 2000) Conclusion As the world is undergoing a geostrategic rebalancing of power with the rise of China and the developing world, it is important that ever for the African academia to reinvent its own study of China, especially the study of the country's attitude to tackle geopolitical challenges and its dynamism to path the way to a peaceful and prosperous society. Such a "Chinese Spirit" should be thoroughly investigated via an authentic African Sinology or "Afrisinology" aiming at enhancing African people understanding of China's sociocultural development principles with regards to Africa's development goals. For, digging the cornerstone of the Chinese model may be relevant for the striving developing African economies. "Afrisinology" should use theories to affect the minds, use methods to anticipate decisions making in Africa's relationship with China. In brief, further up the China-Africa Education cooperation and knowledge sharing is the lever that will propel the China-Africa dream of co-development, coprosperity and shared future to new highs.