中国非洲研究院成立大会于2019年4月9日在北京召开。国家主席习近平致贺信，表示热烈祝贺。
习近平指出，当今世界正面临百年未有之大变局，中国作为最大的发展中国家，非洲作为发展中国家最集中的大陆，双方人民友谊源远流长，新形势下，中非深化传统友谊，密切交流合作，促进文明互鉴，不仅造福中非人民，而且将为世界和平与发展事业作出更大贡献。在2018年召开的中非合作论坛北京峰会上，中非双方一致决定构建更加紧密的中非命运共同体，实施中非合作“八大行动”。设立中国非洲研究院是其中人文交流行动的重要举措。希望中国非洲研究院汇聚中非学术智库资源，增进中非人民相互了解和友谊，为中非和中非同其他各方的合作集思广益、建言献策，为促进中非关系发展、构建人类命运共同体贡献力量。
中央政治局委员，中央外事工作委员会办公室主任杨洁篪出席会议，见证中国非洲研究院揭牌成立。来自中国以及莫桑比克、南非等20多个非洲国家的350多位专家学者参加成立大会，并围绕“一带一路”倡议与中非经贸合作、中非文明互鉴与人文交流等议题展开充分探讨。云南大学非洲研究中心副主任梁益坚受邀出席成立仪式。
The inauguration ceremony of the China-Africa Institute was held in Beijing on April 9, 2019. President Xi Jinping sent a letter to congratulate the inauguration of the China-Africa Institute.
In the letter, Xi said the world today is faced with profound shifts unseen in the past century. "As the largest developing country and the continent where developing countries are the most densely located, respectively, China and Africa have enjoyed a time-honored friendship between the people," he noted. Under the new circumstances, China and Africa's push to deepen traditional friendship, boost exchanges and cooperation, and enhance mutual learning among civilizations will not only benefit the Chinese and the African people but also contribute more greatly to world peace and development, said the president. Recalling the two sides' joint decision to build a closer China-Africa community of a shared future and implement eight major initiatives at the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) held in 2018, the establishment of the institute is a move to increase people-to-people exchanges, an important part of the decision.
Xi said he hopes the institute will help draw on both sides' academic resources, enhance understanding and friendship between the Chinese and the African people, and provide good ideas and advice for China-Africa cooperation as well as the cooperation between the two sides and other parties, to contribute to the development of the China-Africa relationship and the building of a community with a shared future for humanity.
