A child throws himself in the arms of a Chinese nursing specialist and refuses to leave, Sierra Leone, April 14, 2021.

Accompanied by a cheerful African hula dance, the award ceremony of the 2021 China-Africa Video and Photo Competition was held in Beijing on Oct 14. The cultural exchange program aims to promote communication and mutual understanding between the two sides with a theme－"friendship in focus, together for future".

After the award committee announced a shortlist of candidates, Zimbabwean contestant Michael Mubaiwa and Chinese doctor Huang Shiyong won the Grand Prize for their works Love for Guqin and Guarding the Hope.

Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs Deng Li said that among the many outstanding works in this competition, he was touched by stories on people working together to fight the pandemic. Moments captured on camera to portray the harmonious coexistence of Chinese and African cultures are the highlight, especially with photos in which the Chinese and African people hold hands and embrace their bright future.

"It is these bits and pieces of stories that have brought together the majestic strength of the continuous development of China-Africa friendly cooperation, and also made us confident in the bright prospects of China-Africa relations," he says.

He emphasizes that China and Africa have always been a community with a shared future. Even in face of the pandemic, China-Africa cooperation has not stopped progressing. The Eighth Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation is about to be held in Senegal on Nov 29. He hopes everyone will continue to devote themselves to the cause of China-Africa friendship and contribute new forces to the success of the forum and the development of China-Africa relations.

At Koroga Music Festival, students of the Confucius Institute wear hats with Chinese and Kenyan national flags and dance, Sept 22, 2019.

Martin Chedondo, Zimbabwe's ambassador to China says this is not only a competition, but also a grand event celebrating China-Africa friendship and cultural diversity. "As the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words. As the pandemic continues to wreak havoc worldwide, there is no better way to reflect and share our cultural experience and friendship than pictures and videos," he says.

Gao Anming, vice-president and editor-in-chief of China Foreign Languages Publishing Administration says civilization is enriched by exchanges and mutual learning. This contest has opened up a new world for China-Africa exchanges in the context of the epidemic, spanning time, space and distance to record the great China-Africa cultural connection and people-to-people interaction from the perspective of ordinary people. He looks forward to more friends participating in friendly cooperation, continuing to record vivid scenes of China-Africa pragmatic cooperation and friendly exchanges with videos, texts, pictures, and actively sharing new ideas for the development of China-Africa friendly cooperation.

The medical team in which doctor Huang Shiyong stationed is the 16th batch of medical aid team to Botswana from Fujian province. They arrived in the country in September 2020 when the COVID-19 just broke out there, and the team made heroic efforts to save people. Huang says in his award-winning Guarding the Hope, he captured on camera nurse Ye Liwei in the intensive care unit during her night shift. The judges unanimously agreed that the dim night shift environment and the petite and delicate figure of the nurses reflect the spirit of the Sino-African medical team. Fearless of hardships, they are willing to save lives and heal the wounded with boundless love.

The contest is co-sponsored by the Secretariat of the Follow-up Committee of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation and China Foreign Languages Publishing Administration. They have actively collected short videos and photo works from various sources, including individuals and cultural institutions. The contest was promoted to more than 40 African countries, and the total number of online views of the entries exceeded 40 million. In the end, more than 2,500 valid works were collected, of which more than 60 percent are from African contestants. The contestants recorded the genuine, close and sincere Sino-African friendship through the lens.

Train driver Yang Ming of the Mombasa-Nairobi Railway and Kenyan apprentice Conselia inspect the locomotive, March 22, 2017.

Liu Fengwei, an employee of the China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation in Ethiopia has lunch with the children.

Ye Liwei, one of the 16th batch of China (Fujian) medical team members in Botswana guards patients in the ICU ward, May 30, 2021.

A Chinese ophthalmologist checks the eyesight of local residents, Madagascar, June 7, 2018.

People from China and Uganda make dumplings together at Karuma Hydropower Station project camp, Sept 29, 2018.

College students from Moi University in Kenya learn Chinese calligraphy in class, Feb 3, 2018.