On December 7, Wang Xiaole --Chinese name of a Tanzanian student with a strong passion for telling the Chinese story-- and his university classmates visited Pujiang and learned about local policies of water regulations. “I will share videos and pictures from today with my friends back home to show them China’s development,” Wang Xiaole said while taking part in the 5th session of Extracurricular Events on National Policy Education organized by the Jinhua Foreign Affairs Office and Zhejiang Normal University. On the occasion, participants were also informed about the spirit of the Sixth Plenary Session of the 19th CPC Central Committee.

Guo Zhongming, director of Jinhua FAO, explained that in order to further make Jinhua an “open and strong city” and take the lead in telling China’s stories, the EE project provides internationals based in Jinhua with a panoramic, multi-dimensional, and realistic platform to understand Jinhua and China’s national conditions. This year, Jinhua FAO and ZJNU designed multiple events and jointly held a series of activities according to the characteristics of Jinhua grassroots governance and industrial characteristics. A total of 213 foreign students from 58 countries and regions and students entrusted by the Ministry of Commerce participated.

“Lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets” is an ecological concept launched in 2016 based on green development and aims to build a beautiful world of harmonious coexistence between man and nature. At present, Pujiang is an exemplary county for this concept as it has developed the idea of transforming “beautiful scenery” into “beautiful economy.”

The EE project chose a down-to-earth way to involve participants and provide them with a series of activities offering insights of local and peculiar knowledge representing the growth of China.

A student from Cuba, known by his Chinese name, Huang Long, followed the group but was also eager to quietly slip out and chat with the villagers. “I want to listen to and see more real stories,” Huang Long explained. The Yemenese young man Su Chen also said that he sees in Pujiang the past and future of China and that Pujiang not only preserves historical culture but is also developing new ways and technologies.

Very enthusiast about the project, Wang Xiaole also sees here the future of Sino-African relations: “As international students in China, we must sit in the classroom to learn about our field of studies, but we also have to work as messengers of friendship and learn about the Chinese developmental experience.”

During the day, a symposium was organized gathering Chinese and internationals in the auditorium of Xinguang Village to learn and talk about the spirit of the Sixth Plenary Session of the 19th CPC Central Committee. In relation to the concept of “construction of a community with a shared future for mankind, Wang Xiaole has warm feelings. In fact, he is translating into Swahili Xi Jinping’s collection of speeches at the 8th Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, “Work together to build a community of common destiny in China and Africa in the new era.” “The Chinese are Africa’s most faithful friends, and I hope to have more Africans understand the friendly nature of the Chinese,” he said.

International participants realized that before visiting the Chinese countryside, it was very hard to imagine these stories and examples. And Pujiang, with its ecological Cuihu Park, the advanced crystal industry, and the innovative Xinguang Village, is a representative example of developmental economy, innovative job opportunities, and balanced relations between industrial growth and ecological environment. Participants of the EE project witnessed these stories of China and spread the word all over the world.

“The level of understanding and acceptance of China is different for each participant, but they share a major feature: all of them are young and talented, some of them are also on scholarships offered by the Chinese government, so they will be surely working as mediators in the cooperation between China and other countries,” director Guo said. (Text by Wang Lei, photo by Liu Renyi, translated by Marco Lovisetto, edited by Mariam Ayad)