SCIO press conference on 'China and Africa in the New Era: A Partnership of Equals' white paper
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E-mail China.org.cn, November 30, 2021
Hong Kong Bauhinia Magazine:
What achievements have been made in people-to-people exchanges between China and Africa in recent years? How can we make further progress in this aspect? Thank you.
Wu Peng:
Thank you for your questions. People-to-people exchanges are among the essential parts of China-Africa cooperation, because it is the public support for exchanging between the two sides. Therefore, China has always attached great importance to interacting with people in Africa, speaking with them, listening to them, responding to their concerns and implementing China-Africa cooperation in a way that helps fulfill their dreams.
As an old Chinese saying goes, "State-to-state relations thrive when there is a friendship between the peoples." "Cultural prosperity" is one of the critical aspects of building a China-Africa community of shared future. The two sides have seen diverse people-to-people exchange activities in recent years. We have held many "Year of an African Country" events, "Year of Culture" programs and "Chinese and Africa Cultures in Focus" projects. Other programs include the China-Africa Youth Festival, think tank forums, media cooperation forums, and joint exchanges projects, to name a few. There are also Confucius Institutes and cultural centers. The two sides have established 61 Confucius Institutes and 48 Confucius Classrooms in Africa, and the numbers keep growing. There are also 160 pairings of sister provinces or cities between China and African countries. It's fair to say that the two sides have an increasingly profound understanding of each other.
Given the upcoming meeting of the FOCAC, we have launched an online campaign collecting video and photographic works from people in Africa. I am very impressed by some of the pieces collected. These works reflect ordinary people's point of view on China-Africa cooperation and tell stories about how these people benefit from the cooperation. I find them very touching. I recommend our friends from the media to take a look at these works, which, together with news information, are available on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs website. You may find some exciting news topics from them.
Under the current circumstance, people-to-people exchanges, especially exchanges with people from all walks of life in Africa, is still an essential aspect of our work. We need to expand the public support of the development of China and Africa and strengthen the bond between the people of the two sides. Thank you.
Shou Xiaoli:
Next will be the last question due to time constraints.
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