The Seminar on Public Financial Management Audit and Oversight for Senegal Successfully Held at the Institute

Mutual Learning and Exchange Promote Collaboration, Deepened Cooperation for Shared Development

From July 6 to 26, the aid-training program "Seminar on Public Financial Management Audit and Oversight for Senegal," hosted by the Shanghai National Accounting Institute (SNAI), was successfully conducted. The seminar brought together 24 senior officials from the Senegalese Court of Auditors. Through a diversified model combining thematic lectures, dialogue exchanges, and on-site study visits across multiple locations, the program built an important bridge for mutual learning between China and Senegal in the field of fiscal and audit oversight.

Opening Ceremony: Deepening China-Senegal Friendship and Embarking on a New Journey of Learning

On the morning of July 6, the opening ceremony of the seminar was held. Mr. Zhang Feng, Secretary of the Party Committee of SNAI, and Ms. Adiatoulaye Gueye, Chief Prosecutor of the Senegalese Court of Auditors and representative of the Senegalese participants, attended and delivered speeches. The ceremony was moderated by Ms. Bai Xiaohong, Vice President and Member of the Party Committee of SNAI.

Secretary Zhang Feng extended a warm welcome to the Senegalese officials and introduced the institute's development history, its role in cultivating financial talent, and its engagement in international economic and financial exchanges. He noted that China and Senegal share a deep friendship and a solid foundation for cooperation. Under the strategic guidance of the two heads of state, the bilateral comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership continues to deepen, serving as a model for China-Africa friendly cooperation and solidarity among Global South countries. He expressed the hope that this seminar would serve as an opportunity to deepen experience-sharing in fiscal and audit fields and promote practical cooperation between the two sides.

Chief Prosecutor Gueye, on behalf of all participants, expressed gratitude to the institute for its meticulous preparations and thoughtful arrangements. She introduced the establishment background of the Senegalese Court of Auditors, its fiscal oversight functions, and its two major development directions—capacity building and reform and innovation. She noted that the seminar's curriculum closely aligns with Senegal's core needs to enhance fiscal governance and oversight capabilities, and serves as an important vehicle for deepening bilateral friendship and expanding cooperation in the economic and financial sectors. She encouraged all participants to make the most of this learning opportunity, draw fully on China's practical experience in fiscal auditing, and effectively improve their professional competencies.

The seminar invited experts from the National Audit Office, the Shanghai Municipal Audit Bureau, the China Executive Leadership Academy Pudong, the Chinese Academy of Fiscal Sciences, and other institutions, together with SNAI faculty, to form the teaching team. Thematic lectures covered topics such as the theory and practice of Chinese-style modernization, an overview of China's fiscal and taxation system, fiscal auditing, fiscal supervision, and budget performance management. In-depth discussions and exchanges with participants were also conducted, laying a solid theoretical foundation for subsequent thematic dialogues and field studies.

In-Depth Dialogue: Exploring New Paths in Audit Governance

During the seminar, the institute organized a deep-dialogue session between its 2025 cohort of doctoral students in audit and the Senegalese participants. Vice President Bai Xiaohong attended and delivered remarks. Eight of the institute's first cohort of national doctoral students in audit and the 24 Senegalese senior officials participated fully in the discussions.

The exchange was lively and engaging, with both sides conducting in-depth, bidirectional discussions on 15 core topics, including the development of audit systems in China and Senegal, audit practices, digital transformation of audit, independence safeguards in auditing, and local fiscal decentralization governance. Senegalese participants provided detailed responses to eight questions raised by the doctoral students, covering topics such as the independence of the audit court and its integration of judicial functions, comparative analysis of Chinese and Senegalese audit systems, digital transformation of audit, and local government auditing and decentralized governance. Vice President Bai Xiaohong, drawing on the characteristics of China's audit system and the requirements of modernizing national governance, systematically addressed seven questions from the Senegalese side, including China's audit planning processes, audit model evaluation systems, and mechanisms for safeguarding auditor independence.

This deep-dialogue session not only reflected the institute's internationalized educational approach but also provided a valuable platform for audit doctoral students to broaden their global perspectives and enhance cross-cultural academic exchange capabilities. At the same time, it helped Senegalese officials gain a deeper understanding of China's distinctive audit oversight system and governance effectiveness, laying a solid foundation for regular exchanges and cooperation between China and Senegal in the audit field.

Field Study: Experiencing the Practice of Chinese-Style Modernization

In addition to theoretical lectures, the seminar organized participants to step outside the classroom and conduct on-site teaching sessions in Shanghai, Wenzhou, and Suzhou. These visits allowed them to observe firsthand China's practical achievements in urban development, ecological governance, rural revitalization, private sector development, and technological innovation, offering a comprehensive and multi-dimensional view of Chinese-style modernization in action.

During their stay in Shanghai, participants visited the Shanghai Museum, the Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Center, and the China Securities Museum. Through these visits, they gained an immersive appreciation of China's profound traditional cultural heritage, systematically reviewed Shanghai's urban development trajectory and modernization achievements, and gained insights into the development history, institutional frameworks, and innovative outcomes of China's capital markets.

In Wenzhou, participants visited the Sanyang Wetland in Wenzhou Ecological Park, where experts explained the city's transformation from environmental remediation to green recovery, allowing them to directly observe the fruitful results of ecological civilization construction. They also visited Dongyuan Village in Rui'an to study the outcomes of Zhejiang Province's "Thousand Villages Demonstration, Ten Thousand Villages Renovation" project. At the Dongli Folk Art Museum, they learned about and experienced the national intangible cultural heritage of "blue calico" dyeing techniques, gaining a vivid appreciation of the integrated development of rural revitalization and cultural heritage preservation. Participants also visited leading local private enterprises such as Red Dragonfly Group and Taichang Group, where they learned about brand development histories and innovative achievements, studied the development strategies of Wenzhou's private enterprises—with their focus on core businesses, pioneering spirit, and global expansion—and gained insights into how local companies integrate into the Belt and Road Initiative and serve overseas markets, truly experiencing the pragmatic innovation and enterprising spirit of Wenzhou entrepreneurs.

In Suzhou, participants toured the Suzhou Industrial Park Exhibition Center, Ailong Technology, and Aixsmart Technology, among other platforms and enterprises. They gained a comprehensive understanding of the park's industrial layout and innovation achievements over more than three decades, and closely examined the R&D, practical application, and overseas expansion of smart medical care, intelligent logistics, and digital public services. They also learned from China's advanced experience in empowering public governance with technological innovation. During the study tour, participants also visited classical Suzhou gardens and the Silk Museum, immersing themselves in the charm of Jiangnan garden aesthetics and the allure of silk intangible cultural heritage, while experiencing the profound cultural richness of traditional China.

Successful Conclusion: A New Starting Point for Cooperation

On July 26, the seminar concluded successfully. Mr. Lu Wenbin, President of SNAI, attended the closing ceremony and delivered a speech.

President Lu Wenbin congratulated all participants on successfully completing the program. He noted that the seminar had built an efficient and pragmatic platform for exchange and cooperation between China and Senegal in the fiscal and audit fields. The conclusion of the program is not an end to bilateral exchanges, but rather a new starting point for deepening long-term cooperation. He expressed the hope for more diverse and in-depth exchanges and cooperation with the Senegalese Court of Auditors in the future, jointly contributing to the improvement of public fiscal governance capabilities in both countries and to building a high-level China-Senegal community with a shared future through professional contributions in finance and economics.

Mr. Malick Ly, Senior Judge of the Senegalese Court of Auditors, on behalf of all participants, extended sincere gratitude to the Chinese government and to all personnel who ensured the smooth operation of the seminar. He spoke highly of the program's professionalism, practicality, and systematic design. He noted that the seminar effectively combined theoretical instruction, interactive discussions, and field visits. Participants not only systematically learned about China's professional knowledge and practical approaches in public fiscal auditing and oversight, but also, through on-site studies in Shanghai, Wenzhou, and Suzhou, directly experienced China's rich historical and cultural heritage and its achievements in modernization, gaining a deeper understanding of the concept of Chinese-style modernization.

At the conclusion of the ceremony, President Lu Wenbin presented each Senegalese participant with a certificate of completion and a commemorative gift with Chinese characteristics—Chinese tea. He expressed the hope that the participants would bring back to Senegal not only the professional knowledge gained in China, but also their firsthand experiences and the friendships forged, becoming ambassadors of connectivity between the two countries in the economic and financial fields, and continuously promoting the deepening and solidification of China-Senegal cooperation.