(FOCAC) Xiplomacy: Best wishes from Congo to China as new academic year starts

BRAZZAVILLE/XINING, Sept. 1 (Xinhua) — “Hello everyone, I wish you a happy 2024-2025 academic year,” wrote Mvey-Likibi Sylvie Le Roy, a student at the Confucius Institute at Marien Ngouabi University in the Republic of the Congo, in a letter in Chinese.
After carefully folding the letter, he placed it in a special envelope issued jointly by China and the Republic of the Congo earlier this year to commemorate the 60th anniversary of their diplomatic relations.
The envelope featured the phrase “China-Congo long-lasting friendship” in both Chinese and French, along with images highlighting key points of bilateral cooperation. One such point is the Sino-Congolese Friendship Primary School in Yushu, China’s western Qinghai Province, the recipient of Le Roy’s letter.
In April 2010, after a powerful earthquake struck Yushu, the government of the Republic of the Congo donated a primary school to Yushu, which was later named Sino-Congolese Friendship Primary School by President Denis Sassou Nguesso.
This school was mentioned by Chinese President Xi Jinping during his address to the parliament of the African nation during a state visit in March 2013. “Our two peoples have forged deep brotherly friendship in the course of overcoming hardships together and helping each other with all sincerity,” said Xi.
As the new academic year begins, Le Roy’s warm greetings from the African country to Chinese students tell a new story of China-Africa friendship.

WORK TOGETHER FOR A BRIGHTER CHINA-AFRICA FUTURE
During his state visit to the African country in 2013, Xi and Sassou Nguesso attended the inauguration ceremony of the library of the Marien Ngouabi University and its China Reading Room, during which Xi had talks with Congolese teachers and students.
“President Xi encouraged us to learn Chinese well,” said Le Roy, who has been studying at the Confucius Institute for almost a year.
He told Xinhua that he wanted to send his greetings as a gift to the children at the primary school. “I wish them a bright future,” he said. “I also want to make friends with them and open up new chapters for China-Africa cooperation.”
“President Xi’s visit was a real highlight moment and a warm memory to many,” said Kanza Leveau, a teacher at the Confucius Institute. “It demonstrates how much he valued talent and educational cooperation.”
According to Leveau, the collections at the China Reading Room are expanding constantly. Besides reference books and Chinese language textbooks, four volumes of the French version of “Xi Jinping: The Governance of China” are also available for readers.
“The future of our country belongs to young people, his in-depth thinking on China’s national governance and global governance issues will inspire them significantly,” Leveau said.
“I hope our university can play a more prominent role in China-Africa exchanges and cooperation, fostering more Congolese youth who can speak the Chinese language and truly understand China. I also aim to cultivate more talents for our country and the continent through educational cooperation with China,” he added.

MY HOMETOWN IS BEAUTIFUL “JUST LIKE AFRICA”
In April 2010, a 7.1-magnitude earthquake struck Yushu. As locals were struggling to rebuild their homes, Sassou Nguesso, who was attending the Shanghai World Expo, announced that his country would help rebuild a primary school in the quake-affected area.
In July 2012, the Sino-Congolese Friendship Primary School was completed. Surrounded by mountains, the new campus features a modern teaching building, a comprehensive laboratory building, a cafeteria, a standard basketball court, and a sports field with plastic running tracks.
Basile Ikouebe, then foreign minister of the Republic of the Congo, attended the inauguration ceremony. “We presented him with a golden Khata and a ceremonial scarf to express our gratitude to our African friends,” recalled Samdin Tyairing, a Chinese teacher at the school.
According to Samdin Tyairing, every September, the school organizes events to remind the students of the genuine friendship between the two peoples. “Our teacher told us that Congo was not a rich country. When I grow up, I want to be a teacher to help the children there,” 11-year-old student Jiangwen Gantso told Xinhua.
“Welcome to China! Welcome to my hometown Yushu. The sky is high, and the grasslands are vast here, just like Africa,” said the sixth grader-to-be Gamalado Tenzin in his invitation to African children. “Hope we can all study in such well-built classrooms and grow up to make our hometown a better place.”

“CHINA IS SINCERE IN HELPING US”
The No. 1 National Highway is another project featured on the special envelope. Built by a Chinese company, the 536-km highway connects Pointe-Noire, the country’s economic center and second-largest city on the Atlantic coast, and Brazzaville, the capital.
Since its opening in March 2016, over 90 percent of the country’s vital imports and exports have been transported via this road. Additionally, the substantial reduction in transport time and costs has led to the spontaneous development of small markets along the route, bringing increased income for local residents.
Sassou Nguesso hailed the road as a historic achievement, saying the Chinese builders “have fulfilled the dream of generations of Congolese people, and China is sincere in helping us develop our economy.”
“The No. 1 National Highway has set the highest construction standards among Africa, and people from other countries have come to learn from us,” said Oscar Otoka, representative of the Ministry of Regional Planning, Infrastructure and Road Maintenance of the Republic of the Congo.
The highway significantly boosted the local economy and connected Cameroon and the Central African Republic, which could play a crucial role in the development of the sub-region of Africa, said Otoka.
Apart from the highway, a number of China-funded infrastructure projects have been completed in the country in recent years, such as an iconic bridge named after the Independence Day in the Republic of the Congo, and the Sino-Congolese Bank for Africa. These projects have injected new impetus into the development and modernization of the African country while opening up new chapters of bilateral friendship.
The ongoing cooperation between China and the Republic of the Congo was further celebrated in February when President Xi exchanged congratulations with Sassou Nguesso on the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations, underscoring the enduring friendship and shared vision for future development.
In recent years, the frequent exchanges between the two countries, the continuous deepening of political mutual trust, and the steady progress of practical cooperation have brought tangible benefits to the people of both countries, which is a vivid reflection of the spirit of friendly cooperation between China and Africa, Xi said.
For his part, Sassou Nguesso expressed that over the 60 years of diplomatic relations, the people of both countries have always been united and friendly, upholding common aspirations for peace, justice, and prosperity. This has propelled the rapid development of the comprehensive strategic and cooperative partnership between the Republic of the Congo and China. ■