Uniting youth across continents

Joseph Olivier Mendo'o, a 31-year-old from Cameroon, has dreamed of becoming a diplomat and has been fascinated by diverse cultures since childhood.

Driven by his aspirations and open-mindedness, he closely followed the deepening cooperation between China and Africa. In 2014, Mendo'o enrolled in a local Confucius Institute to learn more about China.

In 2015, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi visited Cameroon and toured the Confucius Institute where Mendo'o was studying. As a student representative, Mendo'o had a brief conversation with the minister, which inspired him to pursue further studies in China and experience the country firsthand.

In 2016, Mendo'o began his master's degree at Peking University and was accepted as a PhD candidate in 2018.

At a welcome party hosted by the university's African Students Association, Mendo'o met Zhou Yefan, a member of the Fuyang Youth Federation in Hangzhou, East China's Zhejiang province.

The two young men quickly hit it off, both recognizing the great potential for cooperation between the youth of China and Africa. In 2019, they established the China-Africa Youth Federation (CAYF).

Over the past five years, the federation has organized numerous initiatives to achieve its goals. According to Zhou, one significant project is the "African Corner", where the federation invites African diplomats to share information about their countries' investment policies and unique resources.

"In this way, we create a cozy and comfortable atmosphere for Chinese youth and entrepreneurs, helping them gain a deeper understanding of these countries," Zhou said.

Over the years, Mendo'o has explored over 50 villages to study China's poverty alleviation efforts. He was particularly impressed by Lyuliang in North China's Shanxi province, where the local residents have achieved economic success by selling paper-cutting artifacts under the "one village, one product "concept.

"In Africa, we have always thought that we can only rely on big investments and projects for development. But what I saw in China was the opposite. They help the poor by promoting the art of paper-cutting," he said.

Mendo'o has also actively engaged with Chinese youth. For example, he has visited over 70 grassroots schools in China. Through conversations with local middle school students, he discovered many similarities between China and Africa.

"We're all developing countries. We share the same pursuits. We all have dreams, and we all want to develop. You can go fast on your own, but only together can we develop and go farther," he said.

Regarding the ongoing Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) summit, held from Sept 4 to 6 in Beijing, Mendo'o expressed his desire that the event will encourage young people from both regions to visit each other's countries.

"I hope that more and more Chinese young people will recognize, contact, and understand the real Africa. I also hope that more African young people, as 'seeing is believing', will come to China to grasp the real situation," he said.