‘See Xi through your eyes’
ESSAY: SA STUDENTS GET SCHOLARSHIPS AS CHINA SEEKS APPLICANTS
Chinese deepen academic ties by ‘fulfilling dreams’.
China was bullish about bolstering stronger bilateral engagements with SA on the eve of celebrating 25 years of diplomatic relations and SA taking over the Brics (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) presidency.
It has deepened academic ties with SA, with 59 local university students being awarded prizes by the People’s Republic of China embassy, after entering in an essay contest themed “Xi Jinping’s Thoughts Through South African Students’ Eyes.”
Poverty alleviation, governance philosophy, ecological conservation, a community with a shared future for mankind and Brics were among several topics covered by 230 students from universities in Gauteng, the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal, with Deputy Minister for Higher Education, Science and Innovation Buti Manamela and Chinese ambassador Chen Xiaodong, congratulating entrants.
Manamela said: “Over the course of the last four decades, China’s GDP [gross domestic product] growth averaged to over eight percent a year. This resulted in the Chinese economy undergoing the fastest sustained expansion by a major country in history.
“With this, China has contributed close to three-quarters of the global reduction in the number of people living in extreme poverty. Over the same period, the Chinese government made significant improvements in access to health, education, and other services.
“Today, China is classified as an upper-middle-income country that has a GDP of over $18 trillion, [about R311 trillion] an unemployment rate of 5.5% and the largest basic education system in the world, with almost 260 million students and over 15 million teachers in over 500 000 schools,” Manamela said. “It also aims to become a global leader in strategic emerging technologies such as cyber, artificial intelligence and quantum technologies.”
Chen said the development of China would bring “new opportunities to the world and certainly give a boost to the future development of China-SA relations”.
“Under presidents Xi Jinping and Cyril Ramaphosa, China-South Africa Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, has made remarkable progress.
“Next year, China and South Africa will celebrate the 25th anniversary of diplomatic relations and South Africa will take over the Brics presidency, which will usher in a new historical starting point for bilateral relations.
“China will work with South Africa to strengthen the exchange of experience in governance, deepen mutually beneficial cooperation, expand solidarity and cooperation in international affairs and promote people-to-people exchanges.”
China provided full scholarships annually for SA university students to study languages or pursue academic degrees in China. Chen said: “A number of SA students have been able to fulfil their dreams in China over the past few years. They studied hard and brought what they learnt back to South Africa.
“Now, they are playing an important role in their respective jobs and have become envoys of China-SA friendship.
“The 2023 Chinese Government Scholarship is now open for application. Relevant information is available on the embassy website and the website of the SA department of higher education.
“General secretary Xi Jinping pointed out ... that a nation will prosper only when its young people thrive,” he said.
The younger generation “should aim high but stay grounded, dare to think big and take action – but make sure you can deliver”.
A nation will prosper only when young people thrive