China and African nations will renew their friendship and further practical cooperation to jointly advance modernization and build a high-level community with a shared future at the 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) which is scheduled in Beijing from Sept. 4 to 6.
Prior to the summit, the two-day FOCAC Senior Officials Meeting of the Summit and Ministerial Conference will be held starting Monday.
On the first day of the summit, Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected to host a welcome banquet in honor of the dignitaries.
The opening ceremony of the FOCAC summit will take place on September 5 at the Great Hall of the People and President Xi will deliver a keynote address.
Four high-level meetings on State Governance, Industrialization and Agricultural Modernization, Peace and Security, and High-Quality Belt and Road Cooperation are scheduled on Thursday.
The 8th China-Africa Entrepreneurs Conference will be held on the final day of the FOCAC summit at the China National Convention Center. Chinese Premier Li Qiang and other leaders are expected to deliver speeches.
The outcomes of this year's summit will be summarized through two documents, namely, the Joint Declaration and the Action Plan. These documents will serve as a guide to the principles and priorities for China-Africa cooperation over the next three years until the next FOCAC summit.
During the past years, China-Africa cooperation has withstood the test of time. From Cairo to Johannesburg, and across sectors from healthcare to infrastructure, China and Africa have united to overcome challenges and pursue more balanced, inclusive development.
The fruits of China-Africa cooperation highlight China's commitment to its friendship with other Global South countries and their mutual development. They exemplify a model of South-South cooperation that addresses the unique challenges and aspirations of developing nations, which will be showcased again at the upcoming FOCAC summit.
Working together, China and Africa will continue to exemplify Global South cooperation, advance modernization suiting each country's conditions, and strengthen multilateralism for greater say in global governance.
China, Africa set to embrace closer economic, trade ties at FOCAC
The Mid-Autumn Festival Gala, to be held by China Media Group (CMG), will provide a stunning visual feast through the ingenious combination of state-of-the-art technologies and picturesque landscape scenery, aiming to impress the audience via delicate stage designs in romantic and aesthetic settings.
The Mid-Autumn Festival falls on Tuesday this year. CMG has announced that the gala is going to take place in Shenyang City, capital of northeast China's Liaoning Province.
The stage for the upcoming gala has been set on the lakeside of Dingxiang Lake in Shenyang City as the event is aimed to present an impressive "beautiful, sincere, lyrical, and romantic" artistic vision.
Nestled against the lake, the circular stage featuring a 360-degree panorama highlights the integration of art and modern technologies.
The biggest highlight and innovation of the stage design is a movable "full moon". With a diameter of 12 meters, the moon weighing 10 tons sits on the main stage and casts light on the rippling water.
"The use of water is a feature of the Mid-Autumn Festival Gala. We hope that the mutual reflections of the images will evoke longing for family reunion. These buildings with styles of Ming and Qing dynasties, the typical and simple Chinese moon gate, we hope that through graphics, modeling, physical scenery set and the overall structural setting of the stage, we can combine Chinese aesthetics with modernity and infuse the Chinese aesthetics in the Mid-Autumn Festival stage creation, so as to present them to Chinese people around the world," said Wang Chen, director of stage art of the gala.
"When I got here and saw it today, I thought the stage setting is so beautiful. The big moon delivers an artistic conception. And there is a pavilion by the water. When a performer stands inside and sing, it looks like a beautiful painting. This time I will sing a very beautiful song, and I'll also dance in my performance. I hope people will like it," said Jin Chen, a performer.
In addition to the theme of family reunion, this year's Mid-Autumn Festival Gala also incorporates patriotism, as well as precious video clips showcasing the development of the country.
The Mid-Autumn Festival is a significant traditional Chinese festival celebrated on the night when the moon reaches its fullest and brightest on the 15th day of the eighth month on the Chinese lunar calendar.
During the festival, family members would come together, share mooncakes while admiring the moon, and light up lanterns to enjoy the happiness of family reunion.
CMG unveils moon-shaped, dreamlike stage of Mid-Autumn Festival Gala
