China–Africa Higher Education Collaboration from the Perspective of Synergistic: The Case of Beijing Foreign Studies University

The collaboration of China with Africa started with infrastructure synergistic in 1976 by building the Tanzam Railway with the cooperation of China with Tanzania and Zambia. China has continued to support Africa with infrastructure development. Since China launched the “Belt and Road” initiative in 2013, it has been widely supported by many African countries. Education, as the foundation of national prosperity and people's wellbeing plays a fundamental and leading role in China–Africa joint construction of the “Belt and Road”. The relationship of China with Africa is synergistic as the inputs generate outputs that are more than the sum of the parts by working together with cooperation. This research takes one of the leading Chinese universities—Beijing Foreign Studies University as a case study by being inspired with the theory of synergistic. The research analyses the mechanism of interaction and coupling between China and Africa universities, governments, international organizations (e.g. United Nations, UNESCO) to demonstrate cooperative actions, achievements and future cooperation outlook of Beijing Foreign Studies University from the perspective of synergistic, and highlights some policy and managerial implications, and makes some recommendations.