Morocco and China have established a joint research centre in Rabat to deepen cooperation on public governance, administrative reform and development, marking a new expansion of Beijing’s academic engagement with North Africa.
The China-Africa Research Center, inaugurated at Morocco’s National School of Administration (ENA), will bring together researchers, trainers and public officials from the two countries to conduct joint studies, exchange institutional expertise and develop training programmes for government personnel.
The centre was formally established through a cooperation agreement signed on Wednesday by ENA Director Nada Biaz and China-Africa Institute President Ye Hailin. It is the first Sino-African research centre of its kind in North Africa.
Its creation reflects a broader effort to move China-Africa cooperation beyond traditional economic and diplomatic engagement into research, knowledge exchange and public-sector capacity building.
Under the agreement, the institutions will undertake basic and applied research on issues of shared interest, while organising executive training programmes in Morocco and China for civil servants, government officials and public-sector executives.
The initiative comes as African governments face growing demands to modernise public institutions, improve service delivery and strengthen administrative capacity. By bringing Chinese and Moroccan experiences into a shared research framework, the centre is expected to develop practical proposals on governance, institutional performance and socio-economic development.
Biaz said the partnership would provide a permanent institutional framework for collaboration, describing the centre as an anchor for exchanges among researchers, trainers and public officials.
She said international cooperation was central to ENA’s efforts to renew its training methods, expand research and support the transformation of public administration.
China’s Ambassador to Morocco, Yu Jinsong, said the initiative reflected the growing strategic partnership between the two countries and would help implement commitments made at the 2024 Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) summit in Beijing.
At the summit, China pledged to support the establishment of 25 China-Africa research centres and a continental knowledge network, alongside expanded cooperation on public governance and institutional modernisation under the 2025–2027 Beijing Action Plan.
The new centre is expected to connect with other African research institutions, serve as a platform for coordination and encourage joint research across the continent.
Established in Beijing in April 2019 under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, the China-Africa Institute promotes academic exchanges, joint research and training on governance and development between China and African countries.
The Rabat initiative also builds on earlier cooperation between the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and Morocco’s Policy Center for the New South, which signed an academic cooperation agreement in April 2025.
Article by Jed Mwangi
Photo courtesy: Google
Comment