Themed “Across Time and Space, Youth Power Strengthens China-Africa Friendship,” the 9th China-Africa Youth Festival opened in Beijing on September 9. Fifty-nine youth representatives from African member states of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) and African communities from other continents around the world visited Beijing, Qinghai and other places during the six-day event. They learned about China’s achievements in the preservation of traditional culture, rural revitalization, ecological conservation, and high-tech development.

Miao Deyu, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, said that he hopes Chinese and African youth will become partners with shared aspirations in pursuing modernization, companions who promote dialogue between civilizations and deepen people-to-people ties, and pioneers who advance China’s four major global initiatives to build a community with a shared future for humanity. Li Bin, Chairperson of the China Soong Ching Ling Foundation (CSCLF), said that China and Africa have achieved fruitful results in implementing the consensus reached at the FOCAC Beijing Summit. She called on young people to keep pace with the global trend of development, strengthen mutual trust and unity through exchanges, and join hands in advancing towards the same direction. She also encouraged them to stand firm in safeguarding global peace and upholding international fairness and justice, while actively contributing to the building of a community with a shared future for humanity, so as to steer the world towards a bright future of peace, security, prosperity and progress.

Dalva Ringote Allen, Ambassador of Angola to China, whose country holds the Rotating Presidency of the African Union (AU), said that although Africa and China are geographically distant and our peoples speak different languages, they share a common pursuit of prosperity and peace. The China-Africa Youth Festival has provided an important platform for cultural exchanges and dialogue between African and Chinese civilizations. She expressed the hope that youth from both sides will join hands, carry forward the friendship, and work together to build a more inclusive, sustainable, and prosperous world.