How China Supporting Nigerian Youths Dreams Through Space and Art

The Chinese Government is supporting the dreams and aspirations of Africans, especially Nigerian youths, for a better future.

The recently launched Shenzhou-16 manned spaceflight mission will stage the first international painting exhibition on the China Space Station and display paintings received from African teenagers from 10 African countries, including Algeria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Egypt, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritius, Nigeria, Somalia, South Africa, and Zimbabwe.

Following the “Tiangong Dialogue-Talk with Taikonauts” in September 2022, where African youths conversed with Chinese astronauts and expressed strong interests in space and aerospace, the Chinese Follow-up Committee of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) and China Manned Space Engineering hosted a painting competition themed "My Dream" in March for African teens and children.

Jing Haipeng, mission commander for the upcoming Shenzhou-16 manned spaceflight mission, said "Indeed, we have this special and meaningful mission for this flight, which is to display international paintings for the first time on the China Space Station, exhibiting excellent works from the "Tianhe Award" for young friends from the 10 African countries".

"At present, we have not seen the paintings. I believe they will be brilliant. Exploring the vast universe is the common cause and common dream of all mankind, regardless of race, age, or region. We are willing to join hands with all peace-loving people to create a better tomorrow".

"We will take the children's best youth, best friendship, and best dreams into space, sow the seeds of science, friendship, and dreams on the China Space Station, and let them take root, germinate, blossom and bear fruit", Jing added.

The Shenzhou-13 crew that has been living and working in China's space station displayed on Saturday, the first day of 2022, paintings by children across the country during an event where they spoke to student representatives from Beijing, Hong Kong, and Macao via video link.

The selected paintings are the 10 winning entries from the competition, part of the final selection for the Tianhe Award, and will be exhibited for the first time on the China Space Station.

According to the report by Global Times, Jing further stated that “Exploring the vast universe is the common cause and dream of all mankind, regardless of race, age, or region. We are willing to join hands with all peace-loving people to create a better tomorrow. We will take the children’s best friendship, and best dreams into space, sow the seeds of science, friendship, and dreams on the China Space Station, and let them take root, germinate, blossom, and bear fruit.”

“My Dream” Painting Competition for African Youth saw more than 2000 African youngsters submit their paintings for the competition, of which 50 stood out. In the second half of this year, the hosts of this competition will organize an awarding ceremony and invite some of the prize winners to China. 

"The youth are ambitious and passionate dream-chasers. The youth from Africa, with their colorful paintings, have expressed their best wishes for China-Africa cooperation, peace and development, human progress, and a better life," Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning said.

"This is a true picture of the cultural exchanges and people-to-people bond between China and Africa. China stands ready to offer a platform for African youth to show the world their youthful vitality and their African dream and renew the China-Africa friendship,".

He added, "In the meantime, we stand ready to share our experience and outcomes in the development of high-tech, enhance technology transfer in the agricultural and industrial fields and give a boost to Africa’s modernization drive,".

"I’d like to take this opportunity to send my best wishes to the African youth, who are so ambitious, passionate and hard-working in their pursuit of dreams,".

"I hope that their vitality and vigor will be a source of stability, development and prosperity for the African continent and a driving force for renewing the enduring China-Africa friendship," he said.