The First Sino-Africa Forum on Marine Science and Technology was co-organized by the State Oceanic Administration of China (SOA) and the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO (IOC) through its Sub-Commission for Africa and Adjacent Island States (IOCAFRICA) on 26 and 27 November 2013 in Hangzhou, China. The Forum was jointly hosted by the Second Institute of Oceanography (SIO) of SOA and the Ocean College of Zhejiang University. Forty-eight invited participants from China, Egypt, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria, Senegal, the South Africa, Tanzania, Togo as well as the secretariat of IOC and IOCAFRICA attended the Forum.