On 26th July, the 7th China-Africa Civil Forum, China-Africa Youth Leaders Forum Parallel Forum - Public Welfare Charity and China-Africa Poverty Reduction Cooperation Forum was held in Zhangjiajie, under the wide attention and support of relevant government departments and the international community. At the forum, Huayou Cobalt, as a corporate representative, introduced its overseas public welfare practices and launched a development assistance project - Huayou Cobalt CDM DRC Social Responsibility Project in cooperation with China Rural Development Foundation. This initiative not only demonstrates the positive role of Huayou Cobalt in international poverty reduction and development cooperation, but also injects new vitality into China-Africa friendship and cooperation.

▲ Ndimubanzi Ngoroba Emmanuel, Director General of the Environmental Protection Bureau of the Ministry of Mines of the DRC, and Ilunga Tveit Benard, representative of the Pembi Community Development Committee of the Lubudi Region, Lualaba Province of the DRC, Zheng Wenkai, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the China Rural Development Foundation (CRDF), and Lv Kicheng, ESG Senior Director of Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt Co.

Under the framework of deepening cooperation between China and the DRC and jointly promoting the "Belt and Road Initiative", the two sides, adhering to the principle of achieving shared growth through discussion and collaboration, have not only achieved remarkable results in the fields of infrastructure construction and regional economic and trade cooperation, but have also actively expanded new areas of cooperation, especially in the fields of civil diplomacy and social organisations.

Huayou Cobalt has been operating in the DRC for many years, has always been an active participant and promoter of the growing economic and trade cooperation between China and the DRC. Together with the China Rural Development Foundation, Huayou Cobalt has been carrying out community service in the DRC to improve the quality of local schools' hardware and software facilities, and to stimulate the local community's intrinsic motivation and self-development capacity by introducing Chinese poverty reduction and development experience. This is not only a practice of corporate social responsibility, but also an active exploration of a new mode of civil diplomacy under the "Belt and Road  initiative", to do a good job of fulfilling responsibilities overseas from the perspective of a Chinese private enterprise, and to tell a good story of China's win-win cooperation.

China Rural Development Foundation (hereinafter referred to as "the Foundation") actively responds to the call of the state, as an important force of civil diplomacy, the Foundation, with its profound accumulation in the field of public welfare and rich experience in overseas projects, plans to implement the CDM social responsibility project of Huayou Cobalt in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The project consists of a series of development-oriented public welfare projects, which aim to make a positive impact on education, health, infrastructure and other dimensions, and contribute to the long-term development and social progress of the DRC.

Lv Jicheng, Senior Director of ESG at Huayou Cobalt, said: "Chinese social organisations can not only help Chinese companies perform their responsibilities overseas, but also tell the story of Chinese companies going overseas through them. Huayou Cobalt is very happy to choose this trust and go through this project to find out a new model for Chinese foundations to help Chinese companies perform their responsibilities overseas."

▲China Foundation for Rural Development deploys staff to CDM to carry out community development projects

This is not only a vivid interpretation of the concept of "Closer People-to-people Ties" in the Belt and Road Initiative, but also an important practice for social organisations to promote common development and international friendship through cross-border cooperation in the context of globalisation. The cooperation between Huayou Cobalt and the Foundation not only shows the good image of Chinese enterprises actively fulfilling their social responsibilities in overseas operations, but also provides valuable experience for Chinese social organisations to play a greater role in the international arena.

China and Congo are good friends and partners who have been in the same boat through thick and thin and have stood by each other's side. In the future, with the in-depth promotion of the "Belt and Road Initiative", China's civil diplomacy with the DRC and other countries along the route will become more frequent and in-depth. We will contribute to the building of a community of human destiny together.