The experience of topping the podium at the 19th Asian Games has become a powerful motivator for Chinese breakdancer Liu Qingyi to strive for success at the upcoming Paris Olympic Games.
Breakdancing is set to make its debut as an Olympic sport at the 2024 Paris Games, which officially open on Friday, and Liu is tipped to be one of the breakout stars who will make their mark in the French capital.
The 18-year-old Liu made history at the Outbreak 2022 Street Dance Competition in Slovakia by becoming China's first medalist at an international breaking event, and later went on to win the inaugural title in her sport at the 19th Asian Games held last year in Hangzhou City, east China's Zhejiang Province.
Liu, also known as B-Girl 671, a moniker she choose due to her full name sounding like the pronunciation of those numbers in Chinese, is eager to shine on the Olympic stage.
With a fierce drive to perform at her best, Liu is looking to combine new ideas from her coaches alongside the skills she has already mastered during training, as she looks to deliver at the upcoming Paris Olympics.
"For this period, I have so many things to do, because I have a lot of coaches, so they gave me a lot of advice. So, for me, I need to digest them, then to transfer them to use a way by myself. For now, I just want to use some new things and some old stuff together, then I can find new feelings. I can't only do the new things, because it's very difficult, and I feel maybe not stable. So, for now, [I'll] just try, if I crash, it's okay. But for the Olympics, I think that's the final stage," she said.
Liu automatically secured her spot at the Paris Olympics thanks to her gold medal at the Asian Games, and said she is honored to represent her nation while pledging to do her best as she searches for more glory.
"First, I think I'm lucky. I'm proud I can represent China to compete [in] this competition, so I will do my best, then [if] I get [to be] the champion, I'm really happy. I can go to the Olympics straight [after winning at the Asian Games in Hangzhou], so for the Olympics, I also will do my best," she said.
The Place de la Concorde in central Paris will host the first-ever breaking competition in Olympic history on August 9-10, with 32 dancers from 15 countries and regions competing for men's and women's gold medals.
Young Chinese breakdancer '671' looks to make mark at Paris Olympics
Chinese President Xi Jinping's keynote speech at the 2024 Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) summit resonated with the common aspiration of more than 2.8 billion Chinese and African people and demonstrated China's firm will of moving forward hand-in-hand with Africa along the path of development, revitalization and modernization, several participants at the event have said.
In his speech on Thursday, Xi proposed that bilateral relations between China and all African countries having diplomatic ties with China be elevated to the level of strategic relations, and that the overall characterization of China-Africa relations be elevated to an all-weather China-Africa community with a shared future for the new era.
He also announced that the Chinese government will provide 360 billion yuan (about 50.8 billion U.S. dollars) of financial support to Africa over the next three years.
"Everyone was happy to hear those news, so everyone was clapping. So now we are going to a higher level of relations between China and Africa," said Hamidou, a counselor at the Embassy of Comoros in Beijing.
"China understands Africa's urgent desire to advance modernization. We can learn a lot from China's development," said Foreign Minister of Burkina Faso Karamoko Jean Marie Traore.
Xi also suggested 10 partnership actions for modernization that China will take together with Africa in the next three years to deepen China-Africa cooperation and spearhead modernization in the Global South.
"President Xi, through his long vision of the needs of countries and his interest in supporting development, has offered this as a real vehicle to promote exports of Africa to China, which is a huge market," said Alaa Ezz, secretary general of the Union of African Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Agriculture, and Professions (UACCIAP).
"As he told this morning, we have many projects in digitalization, in capacity building, in health centers, support for health, for infrastructure, in the framework of the Belt and [Road]. And we think that we are very satisfied with this partnership. This is a win-win partnership," said Gabriel Mbairobe, Cameroon's Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development.
Held in Beijing from Wednesday to Friday, the 2024 FOCAC summit brought together leaders from China and over 50 African countries, who highlighted the common pursuit of China and African countries in realizing modernization.
During the summit, both sides unanimously adopted two important documents -- a declaration on jointly building an all-weather China-Africa community with a shared future for the new era, and an action plan of the FOCAC for the next three years.
Xi's speech at FOCAC summit resonates with people's common aspiration: participants
