Gert Johannes Grobler, a former senior diplomat at the South African Department of International Relations and Cooperation, said the historic Red Boat on Nanhu Lake in Jiaxing, Zhejiang province, encapsulates the inspiration behind China's revolution and has far-reaching implications for the fraternal bonds and shared destiny of China and Africa.

He made the remarks at a Vision China event with the theme "The Long March from Red Boat", which was held in Jiaxing on Sunday.

Launched in 2018 by China Daily, Vision China invites political, business and academic speakers to tell China's story from a global perspective and discuss major China-related topics of international interest. Prior to this event, the talks had been held 19 times in places like Beijing, New York and London.