Xiangtan University Representatives Attend the Second Forum on International Students from Africa

Written byZhang Xiaohu

Edited byWang Chengqi

Translated by Li Wenqiang, Huang Can

Source: International ExchangeSchool

On April 15, 2024, theSecondForum on International Students from Africa, hosted by the China-African Institute and undertaken by the University of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences(UCASS), was held at the Liangxiang Campus of theuniversity. A six-member delegation from Xiangtan University, including representatives from the International ExchangeSchool, African faculty members from the China-Africa Institute of Economic and Trade Law, and African international student representatives, wasinvited to attend the forum.

The forum was themed “Youth in the New Era, We Come Together with China”. During the discussion sessions on three sub-topicsincluding“Upholding the Concept of Common Development to Benefit the Chinese and African People,” “China-Africa Mutual Learning for Modernization,” and “Fostering a Harmonious Public Opinion Environment and Presenting a Positive International Image,” African faculty members and international students from Xiangtan University delivered speeches successively.

Kaze, an associate research fellow from Burundi at the China-Africa Institute of Economic and Trade Law, proposed that amidthe complex backdrop of constant and evolving international political landscape, China-Africa economic cooperation faces both new opportunities and new challenges, and that closer cooperation in trade, politics, and culture serves the common interests of both sides.

Dassy, a Ugandan national and PhD candidate from the Faculty of Law, put forward that the legal framework and people-to-people exchanges will be the two pillars of China-Africa cooperation. He noted that Chinese and African youth should seize the opportunity to work together to enhance understanding of the legal framework between the two regions, promote advanced cultural exchanges, build a stronger and more resilient partnership, and create a brighter future.

During the forum, the Chinese and English editions ofChina in the New Era Through the Eyes of African Studentswas released. The book is a collection of more than 30 outstanding works selected from submissions by the China-African Institute, among which works bysevenAfrican faculty members, students and alumni of Xiangtan University were included. From the unique perspective of their study experience in China, they recorded the various achievements of China in the new era, and expressed their love for China and aspiration for mutual learning.

TheSecond Forum on International Students from Africa is another vivid practice to unite Chinese and African youth and build a China-Africa community with a shared future. Through participating in the forum, African faculty and students of Xiangtan University gained a deeper understanding of China, strived to become participants andbuildersof China-Africa friendship, and injected new vitality into China-Africa cooperation. Babiker, a Sudanese Chinese language trainee at Xiangtan University, said in an interview with China Media Group that after learning Chinese well in China and gaining a better understanding of Chinese culture through daily life, he hopes to return to Sudan and open a language center to teach Chinese, helping local people work in Chinese enterprises operating there.

Xiangtan University was approved by the Ministry of Education to enroll international students in 1994, admitted its first international students in 1996, and was authorized to establish a Teaching Center for Chinese as a Foreign Language in 1997. In 2009, it obtained qualification to enroll students under the Chinese Government Scholarship, and in 2010 admitted its first recipients. In 2016, it began enrolling language students under the Confucius Institute Scholarship (now the International Chinese Language Teachers Scholarship) as well as under the Hunan Provincial Scholarship for Belt and Road Countries. In 2021, it was granted qualification to enroll students under the “China-Africa Friendship” Chinese Government Scholarship. The university has now developed a multi-level talent cultivation system covering long- and short-term Chinese language trainees, undergraduates, master’s students, and doctoral students.

By virtue ofits strengths in African law research and talent training, Xiangtan University has built a distinctive brand for African international student education in recent years. It initiated and has continuously hosted the Shaofeng ForumforAsia-Africa Youth, and serves as the permanent host of the China-Africa Law School Deans Forum. Its African international students have won national honors in competitions such asMy Beautiful Encounter with ChinaShort Video Competition, the national finals ofTelling China’s Stories in English, and the 12th National College Students’ E-commerce Challenge. The university has also actively supported people-to-people exchanges between Hunan and Africa, participated extensively in the China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo, and achieved notable results in talent cultivation.