Li Bin attends opening ceremony of 8th China-Africa Youth Festival in Beijing

发布时间：2024-05-20 21:24

Li Bin, Vice-Chairperson of the 13th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and Chairperson of the China Soong Ching Ling Foundation (CSCLF), attended and addressed the opening ceremony of the 8th China-Africa Youth Festival held at the China Soong Ching Ling Science and Culture Center for Young People in Beijing on the morning of May 20.

With the theme of "Gathering the Strength of Youths and Achieving the Modernization Dream of China and Africa with Concerted Efforts", the festival was co-sponsored by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, CSCLF and the Zhejiang Provincial People's Government. It drew the attendance of 64 young people from 52 African member countries of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC).

Li Bin, Vice-Chairperson of the 13th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and Chairperson of the China Soong Ching Ling Foundation (CSCLF), attends and addresses the opening ceremony of the 8th China-Africa Youth Festival held at the China Soong Ching Ling Science and Culture Center for Young People in Beijing on the morning of May 20.

Li said that China has been advancing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation with its modernization drive. Chinese modernization will not only benefit Chinese people but also promote the common development of the world. On the path to modernization, China is willing to stand together with African countries through thick and thin, seek mutual development and strive for a better future together.

Li said that China and African countries are good friends who fully trust each other. President Xi Jinping announced the principles of sincerity, real results, amity and good faith for China's Africa policy in his visit to the continent in 2013, guiding and pushing the building of the China-Africa community with a shared future into a fast trajectory. The China-Africa Youth Festival will further strengthen the cooperation and mutual trust between Chinese and African young people, expand exchanges and mutual learning, carry forward traditional friendship in the cultivation of new development momentum, and inject fresh and strong strength of youths into the efforts to enhance people-to-people ties, deepen the partnership between China and African countries, and promote the modernization of China and Africa.

Chen Xiaodong, China's Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs, attends and addresses the opening ceremony of the 8th China-Africa Youth Festival held at the China Soong Ching Ling Science and Culture Center for Young People in Beijing on the morning of May 20.

Chen Xiaodong, China's Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Senegalese Ambassador to China Ibrahima Sory Sylla attended and addressed the opening ceremony as well. Senegal is the African co-chair of the FOCAC. John Paraza, Deputy Secretary-General of the Youth League of the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front and Zimbabwean Deputy Minister of Environment, Climate and Wildlife, gave a speech on behalf of young African people.

Photo taken on May 20 shows participants at the opening ceremony of the 8th China-Africa Youth Festival held at the China Soong Ching Ling Science and Culture Center for Young People in Beijing.

Those in attendance of the event also included ambassadors, representatives and high-level diplomats of the African Union, Cabo Verde, Ghana, Malawi and other African countries, representatives of young Chinese and African people, and African journalists.

The China-Africa Youth Festival, an initiative built on the consensus reached by Chinese and African leaders at the Johannesburg Summit of FOCAC in 2015, aims to promote youth exchanges, carry forward traditional friendship between China and African countries, and nurture young people capable of further advancing China-Africa partnership. Since 2016, the event has been held for seven times. It has played an important role in enhancing mutual understanding and friendship between Chinese and African young people.

This year's event will be held in Beijing and Jinhua of East China's Zhejiang province from May 19 to 26.

(Source: Department of International Cooperation and Exchange, CSCLF)