Shanghai: South Africa has emphasized the need for Global South countries to become producers and owners of emerging technologies as it seeks to enhance scientific cooperation with China. Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Professor Blade Nzimande highlighted that rapidly advancing fields such as artificial intelligence, quantum technologies, biotechnology, space science, advanced materials, and clean technologies are transforming economies and national development.
According to South African Government News Agency, Nzimande addressed the 19th Pujiang Innovation Forum in Shanghai, China, stating that these technological advancements are occurring amid geopolitical and economic instability. He warned that science, technology, and innovation are increasingly being weaponized by certain nation-states. Nzimande urged the Global South to be co-creators of knowledge, co-designers of technology, and co-owners of industries that will shape the future.
South Africa, being the first African nation designated as Country of Honour at the forum, aims to use the platform to promote the continent's science, technology, and innovation agenda under the African Union's Science, Technology and Innovation Strategy for Africa 2034. Nzimande announced plans for South Africa and China to collaborate more closely in areas such as artificial intelligence, joint research centers, space science and astronomy, quantum computing, cybersecurity, public engagement, youth development, and the Young Scientists Exchange Programme.
The cooperation between the two countries is governed by a science and technology agreement signed in 1999 and has expanded to include health, traditional medicine, astronomy, forestry, paleontology, and energy research. Nzimande emphasized the importance of the partnership with China, rooted in solidarity, development cooperation, and multilateral engagement.
He highlighted South Africa's MeerKAT telescope and the Square Kilometre Array as examples of Africa's capability to host, design, and operate mega-science infrastructure of global significance. The collaboration between the South African National Space Agency and its Chinese counterpart is also enhancing earth observation, disaster management, ocean monitoring, and data systems supporting climate resilience and human security.
Nzimande stressed that scientific partnerships must lead to measurable opportunities, advocating for universities, research councils, and innovation agencies to translate opportunities into joint laboratories, research programs, skills pipelines, and commercial partnerships. He also addressed the challenges faced by South African inventions in progressing from prototypes to market-ready products due to insufficient connections between finance, markets, and industrial demand.
The Minister pointed to platforms like InnoMatch that could link South African clean-tech, fintech, and biomedical start-ups with investors and multinational companies. He also noted the country's vaccine manufacturing ambitions and participation in the World Health Organisation's mRNA technology-transfer hub as key lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic, emphasizing that Africa must not be sidelined for life-saving technologies again.
Nzimande praised China for hosting the International Open Science Conference, advocating for open science to make knowledge, data, methods, software, and infrastructure more accessible and inclusive. South Africa, alongside China, Brazil, and the African Union, champions the open science movement. He reaffirmed South Africa's readiness to work with China and other partners to foster a future where innovation is shared, technology is responsibly used, and science serves as a bridge across nations, peoples, and generations.