Friendship award recipient expresses lifelong commitment to promoting China-Brazil relations

The recipient of Chinese Government Friendship Award Evandro Menezes de Carvalho from Brazil, widely known by his Chinese name Gao Wenyong, expressed his lifelong commitment to understanding China and fostering friendship between China and Brazil.

The Brazilian scholar on China shared his personal journey with China in a video message for a cultural event titled "Written in the Sky: My China Story," which was launched by China Media Group in March 2024.

About 11 years ago in 2013, Carvalho came to Shanghai to work as a Senior Scholar at Shanghai University of Finance and Economics and a visiting professor at Center for BRICS Studies of Fudan University.

During his three years living in China, Carvalho not only conducted in-depth research on BRICS-related topics, but also extensively read Chinese literature, studied the Chinese language, and immersed himself in Chinese culture.

"[I] always say that in China I feel that I am a student. It's a country very complex with a long history. I went to China completely from zero and I think this was very important because I built my perceptions, point of view, my experience together with my Chinese friends that I met during this time," he said.

After returning to Brazil in 2016, Carvalho continued his research on China and actively participated in various China-Brazil exchange activities.

As the coordinator for Brazil, he played a key role in organizing the BRICS Seminar on Governance in 2019, one of the main sideline events of the 11th BRICS Summit held in Brasilia.

He has also been instrumental in orchestrating numerous cultural exchange events, including the China-Brazil Forum on Civilizational Exchange and Mutual Learning.

In September of this year, he facilitated the First China-Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) States Roundtable on Human Rights in Brazil, marking the first institutional exchange addressing human rights issues between China and countries in the Latin America and the Caribbean region.

Carvalho's contributions to cultural exchanges between China and Brazil has been widely recognized by both countries.

"I also had a very important award in the beginning of 2023, I received a medal given by the Parliamentary Fronts from the Brazilian National Congress, Parliamentary Fronts on China-Brazil relations," he said.

At the beginning of this year, he received the 2023 Chinese Government Friendship Award, the highest honor to commend foreign experts who have made outstanding contributions to China's modernization drive, ahead of China's Lunar New Year.

"And in 2024 this year, something really meaningful to me, that moved me a lot happened at the end of the Year of the Rabbit. I was completely astonished with this, because this is the hugest award given by the Chinese government to foreigners. I feel that I have a lot of things to do. [On the way to] the National People's Congress, I was together with my wife, and I told her every second and minute here for me, I see a movie. In silence, I started to give thanks to many people, many friends. I knew that I was there because of them, as if I was shaking his/her hand one by one. I always remember, one by one. I was still moved a little bit because I owe them. It's not because of my personal effort [that I was given the award]," said Carvalho.

Carvalho stated that he will remain true to his original aspiration and continue to study Chinese culture and philosophy. He aims to encourage more Brazilians to understand, recognize, and appreciate China. As he tells his Brazilian students, he has chosen to dedicate his life to this mission.

"When we decided to marry, I told her (my wife), 'you know that I am married with China first, right?' So it's important to know this because my life is well connected with China. As I mentioned to my students, it was a life's choice," he said.

"Written in the Sky: My China Story" is a series of cultural events gathering personal stories about China from around the world. To date, it has collected more than 1,600 stories from China and over 60 countries worldwide.

Friendship award recipient expresses lifelong commitment to promoting China-Brazil relations

The construction and development of rural roads and the rural transport system, which emphasizes inclusiveness and equity, provide strong support for the comprehensive development of China's rural economy and society, according to a white paper issued Friday by China's State Council Information Office.

In creating a path to prosperity for rural people, China has taken extraordinary steps and made an enormous effort to expedite the development of rural transport in poor areas, said the white paper titled "China's Rural Roads in the New Era."

Since 2014, more than 1.4 million kilometers of rural roads have been built or upgraded in previously poor areas, all towns, townships and administrative villages where conditions allow had been connected to paved roads by 2019, and all such villages had been connected to bus services by 2020, the white paper noted.

"The roads are better. After years of effort, we have established a rural transportation infrastructure network that connects villages and towns, as well as a rural transportation service system focused on inclusiveness and equity. Through this, rural residents can enjoy better transportation, and rural logistics can be more efficient," said Hou Zhenxing, deputy director of the general planning department of the Ministry of Transport.

According to the white paper, the steady development of transport facilities in rural areas has attracted more capital, projects and talents to the countryside, creating more job opportunities and broadening the avenues for income growth.

At present, rural road construction projects provide work for about 80,000 people in need as a form of relief, enabling an annual average per capita income increase of around 8,500 yuan (about 1,182.57 U.S. dollars), the white paper noted.

About 850,000 jobs are provided in rural road management and maintenance, offering an annual average per capita income of approximately 13,000 yuan, it said.

China builds inclusive rural transport service system: white paper