The 2024 summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), scheduled for Sept. 4 to 6 in Beijing, will bring the Chinese and African people even closer, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said at a press briefing in Beijing on Monday.
Mao made the remarks in response to a media query about 63 scholars from 50 African countries jointly writing a letter to Chinese President Xi Jinping, highly commending the historic achievements made by the forum and expressing their anticipation for the summit in Beijing.
In his reply letter, Xi encouraged the scholars to continue providing intellectual support for building a high-level China-Africa community with a shared future and safeguarding the common interests of the "Global South".
Some African scholars noted that Xi's letter shows China's high attention to Africa-China academic exchanges, and that non-governmental exchanges between the two sides have expanded dialog and deepened cooperation.
"China and Africa enjoy a long-standing friendship with a natural affinity among the people. As President Xi Jinping pointed out in his reply letter, China and Africa have always been a community with a shared future. Humanistic exchanges are an important part of China-Africa cooperation in the new era. Thanks to the joint efforts of both sides, fruitful results have been achieved in the education cooperation between China and Africa, cultural exchanges are getting ever more enriched, civilization exchanges have transcended time and space, and mutual understanding and friendship among the people are constantly deepening. Diversified and colorful activities like the China-Africa Youth Festival and the China-Africa space cooperation are continuously injecting new vitality into China-Africa friendship," said Mao.
"We believe that the upcoming FOCAC summit will further strengthen people-to-people exchanges and bonds, write a new chapter of people's mutual understanding and affinity, and vigorously promote the development of China-Africa relations and the building of a China-Africa community with a shared future," she said.
FOCAC summit to further enhance China-Africa humanistic exchanges: spokeswoman
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
