During an interactive engagement with participants of the Ghana-China Media Fellowship 2025, H.E. TONG Defa, Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to Ghana, emphasized that China’s modernization journey cannot be considered complete without the advancement of other regions, particularly Africa.
The session, held on Saturday, August 2, 2025, at the fellowship training center in Accra, was part of the 12-week media development initiative organized by the Africa-China Centre for Policy and Advisory (ACCPA). The ambassador’s presentation, titled “Chinese Modernization: A Path Forward,” traced China’s remarkable transformation and the evolving global relevance of its development philosophy.
Ambassador TONG highlighted that China’s modernization is not simply a domestic ambition, but a collaborative model that supports inclusive growth and global solidarity. He underscored the significance of platforms like the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in aligning modernization goals across continents, noting that partnerships with Africa are increasingly built on mutual respect, shared prosperity, and sustainable development.
The presentation detailed the defining features of Chinese modernization, including modernization of a large population, common prosperity, harmony with nature, cultural advancement, and peaceful development. These principles, according to the ambassador, are foundational for cooperation with Africa and offer pathways for countries like Ghana to chart their own context-specific development trajectories.
The ambassador also touched on China’s commitment to people-centered development, innovation-led growth, and the acceleration of high-quality productivity, pointing to progress in sectors such as clean energy, digital infrastructure, and advanced manufacturing.
For the media fellows, the presentation served as a valuable lens through which to better understand the complexity and global scope of China’s development model. It further provided the context for reporting on China’s role in Africa not only as an investor or builder, but as a partner in transformation.
The Ghana-China Media Fellowship 2025 is a first-of-its-kind initiative that blends academic learning with field engagement to strengthen journalistic understanding of Africa-China dynamics.
The ambassador’s session marked a major highlight of the fellowship and left participants inspired to explore the interconnectedness of local and global modernization efforts.
