Xu Benyu, 25 and one of the youngest delegates to the ongoing congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), has already booked air ticket to Zimbabwe before the five-yearly important event comes to the end.

 

He will continue teaching Chinese in Harare, Zimbabwe as a volunteer within days after taking part in the election of CPC central committee and reviewing the Party constitution amendments in the Chinese capital of Beijing.

 

"China advocates a harmonious world in the international arena and strives to build a harmonious society domestically. In my point of view, harmony means the equal sharing of development opportunities," said the post-graduate student in Huazhong Agricultural University in central China's city of Wuhan.

 

Xu was already a national famous figure for contribution in education in rural China before being elected as a delegate to the Party congress. He served two years as a volunteer at two remote village schools that even had no access to electricity, teaching children their first courses of English, music and physical education.

 

He went back to cities during vacation to earn living expenses by tutoring and passed round the hat to collect books and used clothes for his students.

 

The CPC member was now trying figure out what the Party congress, which outlines the roadmap of China for the years to come, may bring to the world.

 

"Sharing opportunities for development and rising to challenges together so as to further the noble cause of peace and development of humanity bear on the fundamental interests of the people of all countries and meet their common aspirations," said Hu Jintao while delivering a political report at the opening of the congress.

 

"The individuals shall also share opportunities for development and rise to challenges together," Xu Benyu said.

 

Many of the 2,200-strong delegates to the congress held the same view. Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said Hu's remarks is a manifesto of China following the path of peaceful development, and shows that China must develop friendship and cooperation with all other countries for its further development.

 

Hu Jintao announced at the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation last year that China would dispatch 300 youth volunteers to Africa, add assistance to Africa and further open Chinese market to Africa, among others, aiming to enhance cooperation with Africa.

 

Xu Benyu and 14 other youth volunteers arrived in Zimbabwe in January to become the first batch in Hu's pledge. They are also the first Chinese volunteers to the African nation, who the Zimbabwean government expressed welcome with a ceremony.

 

The beauty of Harare and warm friendship of Zimbabweans moved Xu most. A senior woman official who was off duty drove him back to residence when he was in need, and Harare residents have been greeting the Chinese young man all along -- in China people are not used to greeting strangers.

 

He took Canadian communist doctor Norman Bethune, who came to China in 1938 and devoted his life in helping Chinese fight Japanese invaders, as example. "I hope someday I could be a Chinese-version Dr. Bethune."

 

He was interested in that how Africa and particular his Zimbabwean students, most of whom are businessmen, would be affected by China's future development.

 

With the development of Sino-African relations, more and more Africans eye the Asian country for business opportunities. Some of Xu's students in Harare learn Chinese because they want to buy goods from the small but famous Chinese city of Yiwu.

 

China began to dispatch youth volunteer to foreign countries since 2002 and by the end of January about 200 have been dispatched. Xu said he had hoped to become one of them after reading media reports.

 

"I want to do my part to help people share opportunities for development," he said.

 

(Xinhua News Agency October 18, 2007)