The Global Female Entrepreneurship Empowerment Program (GFEEP) South Africa workshop, guided by the Department of International Cooperation and Exchange of China's Ministry of Education and hosted by Beijing Foreign Studies University (BFSU), wrapped up in Johannesburg on Oct 12.

Participants of the workshop pose for a group photo. [Photo/bfsu.edu.cn]

The workshop brought together 61 South African women entrepreneurs from fields including mining equipment, cultural tourism, agriculture, and digital technology, who completed all courses and roadshow presentations.

Jia Wenjian, president of BFSU and deputy secretary of the CPC BFSU Committee, attended the ceremony.

Jia Wenjian delivers a speech at the event. [Photo/bfsu.edu.cn]

Jia said GFEEP has built a future channel connecting China and South Africa and a cross-border entrepreneurial network. With its mission of bridging China and the world through languages and introducing China to the world and the world to China, he added, BFSU will keep supporting people-to-people and economic and trade exchanges between the two countries, and develop a long-term mechanism for GFEEP, including a regular global alumni network and a cross-border cooperation platform.

Beauty, a participant from Pretoria, said the workshop had given her more rigorous diagnosis of business models, more verifiable business methods, a truer understanding of capital and markets, and more valuable partnerships. The success of the program, she said, should be measured by how many women actually benefit from the opportunities it opens after it ends.

In 2026, GFEEP held two workshops in China, for African and Eurasian participants, respectively, and one overseas workshop in South Africa, empowering 122 women entrepreneurs from 11 countries.

BFSU will further improve the program and strengthen cooperation with government departments, international organizations, and enterprises to advance women's education.