China-Africa Cultural Exchanges Inspiring the Next Generation Leaders: Chronicling the 2024 China-Africa Youth Festival

by Admin (Posted on June 7, 2024)

By George Musiime

More than 60 youth representatives from Africa have been immersed into the culture and history of China as a part of the China-Africa youth festival that kicked off in Beijing on the 20^th May with the opening ceremony in the Chinese capital Beijing. The 2024 China-Africa youth festival was organized with the collaboration between  the China Soong Ching Ling foundation and the Zhejiang Provincial People’s Government. The opening ceremony on May 20^th was attended by young people from all across the continent, representatives from African embassies in China and the African Union as well as Chinese dignitaries including the  Vice Minister for foreign affairs of the People’s Republic of China Chen Xiaodong as well as the chairperson of the China Soong Ching Ling Foundation, Li Bin.

The festival is a cultural exchange  activity where youths from China and Africa share experiences under the people-to-people connection facet of the Forum on China Africa Cooperation FOCAC  which is due to take place in September this year. In fact, because it coincided with the 75^th anniversary of the founding of the Peoples Republic of China, this year’s  festival exposed participants to China’s political journey where participants took part in activities aimed to showcase the story of China’s progress both politically but the social economic aspects as well.

For the first two days, participants took part in activities at the former residence of Soong Ching Ling the wife of the Chinese leader Sun Yat-Sen, an influential figure in Chinese history and champion of Women and young peoples rights, the Chinese Peoples Consultative  Conference CPPCC  museum, the Museum of the Chinese Communist Party and a lecture  on China’s journey of progress at the Prestigious Peking University’s National School of Development.

After the Beijing sessions, participant traveled to the city of Jinhua in the Chinese province of Zhejiang where they visited and experienced various aspects of Chinese culture and development as well. In his address to the media and participants in the opening ceremony in Jinhua yesterday, deputy director-general of foreign affairs in the Zhejiang people’s government, Mr. Chen Jiangfeng, highlighted the role of Jinhua in China-Africa cooperation pointing to the city’s significant contribution to the total China-Africa trade having over 30,000 Jinhua enterprises engaged in business on the continent as well as its strategic importance in the people to people connection. Indeed the city has been leading the China-Africa education cooperation for more than 30 years offering training opportunities to thousands of Africans. The youth also visited China’s best institute on African studies and policy at the Zhejiang  Normal University where many materials on Africa are being curated both to document and tell the brotherly story of China-Africa friendship.

In the city if Jinhua, the delegates and media also visited the 13^th largest Electric vehicle manufacturer in China, Leap Motors. At the factory, the youth were able to see first hand the progress being  made in  the area of transportation and its impact not just on China as a country but the world as well . In fact beside leap motors manufacturing its own parts, the  assembly plant rolling-out 800 auto mobiles a day  demonstrates the role of the electric vehicles in decarbonizing transportation in an era where the world is struggling to meet carbon neutrality.

This years China Africa youth festival therefore sought to expose young people from Africa to how China has successfully tackled the same problems Africa is dealing with today on the political and socio-economic fronts. Having been a developing country 50 years ago, China through its unique approach has been demonstrating to the world in every aspect that it can be accomplished; lifting all its citizens out of poverty.  As a testament, 800 million have been liberated from absolute inside of 40 years, grown their GDP per capita from a paltry 150USD to 12000USD in the same time, becoming the worlds second largest economy and Africa’s biggest trading partner in about the same time with a goal of inspiring Africa’s youth to take the mantle and drive the change that Africa desperately needs. As such, the 8^th China-Africa Youth Festival stayed true to its vision of tapping into the unlimited power of Africa’s young population in order to unlock the continent’s potential for socio-economic progress.

George Musiime is a research fellow at the Development Watch Centre.

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