On August 31st, the fourth China-Africa Youth Festival came to Guangzhou. Present at the opening ceremony were nearly 100 African youth representatives from 51 members of the Forum of China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) and about 90 Chinese youth representatives.

Guangdong has established sister-city relations with 12 cities across 8 different African countries. A total of 11 African countries have established Consulates-General in Guangzhou, with more than 3,000 African students presently studying in Guangdong, accroding to Zhang Guangjun, vice governor of Guangdong.

Zhang Guangjun, vice governor of Guangdong delievered a weclome speech, August 31st, 2019.

In 2018, China-Africa trade exceeded 200 billion US dollars. China has maintained its status as Africa's largest trading partner for 10 consecutive years, with total investment in Africa exceeding 110 billion US dollars. Mutually beneficial cooperation between China and Africa has become an important part of the Belt and Road Initiative, and is set to continue to develop in the future.

He Meng, Counsellor of the Department of African Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said that the China-Africa Youth Festival is an important activity under the framework of the FOCAC and a positive means of promoting friendship between Chinese and African people.

A youth development forum was held after the opening cerenomy, August 31st, 2019.

The China-Africa Youth Festival has been successfully held yearly since 2016. Yu Qun, Vice Chairperson of China Song Qingling Foundation, said that In the future, the China Song Qingling Foundation will continue to work to promote China-Africa friendship and build a platform for young people in China and Africa to exchange ideas with each other.

“I've been looking forward to this trip for a long time. The city is beautiful and amazing. In the next few days, I hope to visit the city and get a better understanding of it”, said Fatima Tomas Tiago from Angola ahead of her visit.

African youth visited former residence of Burce Lee, August 30th, 2019.

Furthermore, the African youth have visited Qingyuan and Shenzhen to learn more about the development of Guangdong's technological industry and e-commerce.

Author: Hannah Zhou, Steven Yuen

Editor: Simon Haywood 

Photo: Steven Yuen