From the 19th to the 28th of April 2023, the “Seminar for Parliamentarians from English-Speaking African Countries” commenced in Beijing, China. Attending countries included Seychelles, Somalia, Uganda, Malawi, Zambia, Namibia, Botswana, and Lesotho. Seychelles was represented by the Leader of the Opposition Hon. Sebastien Pillay acting as the head of the delegation, who was accompanied by Hon. Sandy Arissol, Hon. Norbert Loizeau, and Hon. Wilbert Herminie.
Under the theme “Missions and Tasks of Chinese and African Legislatures in National Modernization”, the seminar was officially opened in Beijing. Giving opening remarks was the Vice Chairman of China's National People's Congress Standing Committee Mr. Zhang Qingwei, who wished the congregation a fruitful exchange and that the seminar would foster a deeper relationship between China and Africa. The aim of the seminar was to take an in-depth look at China’s unique democratic practices from the grassroots level and upwards, to understand the various degrees of socioeconomic development across the country, and to supplement existing discussions on China’s role in Africa’s overall development.
All attendees visited leading enterprises across China and had the opportunity to hold discussions with representatives from China’s legislature which were centered on the theme of modernization, African-appropriate methods of development, and the shared future of China-Africa relations. A key ideology that was presented to the visiting delegation was that the essence of Chinese democracy is to ‘respect the people’s voices and safeguard their rights’; this message was given to the parliamentarians as a lesson to bring back to their home countries and consider implementing.
The visits extended from Beijing to Henan Province, and eventually to Guangdong Province where the visiting parliamentarians concluded the trip by spending three days in the cities of Shenzhen, Jiangmen, and Guangzhou. Hon. Pillay reflected that the seminar displayed “a China that is very democratic internally, which is something that must continue, and should be promulgated in other countries”. Despite being the smallest attending country, the Seychelles delegation demonstrated a high level of engagement and awareness of the discussions taking place and offered a great deal of attentive dialogue throughout the exchange. As the head of the delegation, Hon Pillay emphasized that given the long historical partnership between Seychelles and China it is important to consider how modernization and development using Chinese characteristics has transformed what was once a predominantly mechanical economy into what is now a digital economy and global powerhouse.
