Ugandan students from the Confucius Institute at Makerere University in the country's capital city of Kampala expressed optimism about mastering the Chinese language and excitement about their daily opportunities to learn about China's rich culture.
Since the establishment of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in 2000, and especially in recent years, the ties between China and African nations have been strengthening. This growing relationship is reflected in the increasing passion among African youth to learn Chinese.
Makerere University, one of Africa's oldest and largest universities, jointly established its Confucius Institute with Xiangtan University in central China's Hunan Province in 2014 to help educate about Chinese culture and language.
At the institute, many students are enthusiastic fans of Chinese culture and can speak fluent Chinese. In an interview with China Global Television Network (CGTN), the quizzed each other on naming the Chinese province from where locals are most fond of spicy food.
"I think it should be people from Hunan Province. Many Chinese in Uganda are from Hunan Province. They eat spicy food every day," said a Ugandan student who goes by the Chinese name Ma Baiwan.
"But my Chinese friend told me that people from Sichuan Province love spicy food," said another student with the Chinese name Zhou Yunbo.
"I think it's Hunan. Sichuan style features 'mala,' or numbing spicy. But Hunan has stronger spiciness," argued another student called Du Chu in Chinese.
The trio also shared their experience in learning Chinese, stressing that enthusiasm is the best teacher.
"I think if you are really into something, you can improve and progress every day," said Zhou.
"In my learning process, I found some Chinese actors that I particularly like, whom I constantly imitate," Du said.
"You learn Chinese by doing everything. For example, whatever you see, you think about what it's called in Chinese. When you are playing football, you wonder how you describe every body movement in Chinese. You watch Chinese movies and news. So make Chinese your hobby and there you go," said Ma.
Ugandan students share perspectives on Chinese culture, language learning
A large array of newly developed products and technologies for smart construction is on display at the 2024 China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) in Beijing, demonstrating how smart manufacturing facilities can make engineering more efficient and energy-saving.
At the Shougang Park in western capital city, one of the major exhibition areas of this year's CIFTIS, a total of 123 leading construction enterprises from home and abroad have been showcasing their groundbreaking achievements of intelligent engineering construction.
One of the highlights is an unmanned tower crane designed by China Construction Eighth Engineering Division. With multiple sensors and intelligent control systems, the equipment can be operated remotely and reduce costs by more than one-third.
The product is part of the company's engineering solution of 5G smart construction sites. The overall architecture of the system is supported by a 5G telecom network and various advanced technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain, and Internet of Things (IoT). According its developer, the solution enables effective labor management, workplace safety inspection and quality control.
"The 'smart construction site' significantly reduces costs, saving about 70 to 80 percent, which greatly lowers our management expenses," said Liu Dawei, design manager at General Contracting Company Beijing Branch of China Construction Eighth Engineering Division.
China Construction First Group showcases its containerized concrete modules at the exhibition. This structure, integrating interior and exterior decorations, electromechanical, equipment piping, kitchen and sanitary facilities, can be directly lifted and assemble together, making house construction as easy as building blocks.
"The modules produced by the factory are already rooms with decoration done. When assembling them on site, we mainly use the dry operation including welding and bolted connection, free from the need for another concrete pouring. This approach significantly shortens the construction period and minimizes weather-related limitations, allowing an early completion of the entire building," said Ruan Hao, head of the design manager department of the Design and Research Institute under China Construction First Group.
The five-day CIFTIS 2024 kicked off simultaneously at the China National Convention Center (CNCC) in eastern Beijing and the Shougang Park in the western capital area on Thursday, spotlighting the latest achievements and trends of trade in services, with activities ranging from summits and exhibitions to business negotiations and promotions, as well as achievement releases.
Smart construction technologies displayed at CIFTIS 2024
