BEIJING, Nov. 9, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — The Global Times’ “Overseas China Week” event arrived in Johannesburg, South Africa, on Wednesday. During the holding of the “Global South Dialogue • China-Africa Roundtable Forum,” the photo exhibition themed “Joining Hands – China-Africa Joint Pursuit of Modernization” was successfully launched. A large number of representatives from mainstream media, scholars, and people from the business community of China and South Africa visited the exhibition, which received an enthusiastic response.
The exhibition was held alongside the “Global South Dialogue • China-Africa Roundtable Forum.” In his opening remarks, Zhang Wei, Deputy Editor-in-Chief of the Global Times, said that this past October had witnessed the successful convening of the Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. China’s efforts toward high-quality development, high-standard living, high-efficiency governance, and high-level opening-up have attracted global attention. The scale, resilience, and potential of China’s economy – likened to a “vast ocean” – along with China’s confidence, resolve, and capability to address risks and challenges, serve as a “reassurance pill” for the world economy. This will inject new impetus and bring new opportunities into the joint pursuit of modernization by China and Africa.
As the Group of 20 (G20) Leaders’ Summit is expected to be held in South Africa, the Global Times organized this photo exhibition in Johannesburg focusing on three core themes: “Connecting Peoples’ Hearts, Walking Together on the Grand Path, and Joint Development for Common Prosperity.” The exhibition showcases documentary works by Chinese photographers, project photos of Chinese companies who have cooperation with Africa, and selected pages from the Global Times. It presents a vivid picture of China’s high-quality development and China–Africa’s joint pursuit of modernization, and also highlights the sincere friendship between the two sides that transcends geographical distances, featuring mutual learning and win-win cooperation in various field.
The first theme of exhibition “Connecting Peoples’ Hearts” shows that China has always prioritized the people’s interests. By building a solid development foundation through “small and beautiful” livelihood projects, it has ensured that basic human rights such as the right to development, to health and to education take root across the continent.
The second theme “Walking Together on the Grand Path” showcases that as a crucial member of the Global South, China has always used concrete actions to advance the evolution of the international order toward greater equality and inclusiveness, injecting Chinese wisdom into world multipolarity.
The third theme “Joint Development for Common Prosperity” illustrates that China and Africa are adopting a trinity model of “industrialization + agricultural modernization + green development” to address the development challenge of the “resource curse.” This model provides a Chinese solution for the modernization transformation, helping the seeds of win-win cooperation flourish in Africa.
Busani Ngcaweni, director at the Centre for Public Policy and African Studies with the University of Johannesburg, told the Global Times that the photo exhibition struck a strong chord with him. By showcasing various implemented development projects, China–Africa relations have been given a more concrete and perceptible form, enabling the public to grasp their significance.
Carmen Domingo-Swarts, chief director of the Service Delivery and Compliance Evaluations Office at the Public Service Commission of South Africa, told the Global Times that these photos demonstrate the practical results of the implementation of China–Africa cooperation projects. “The photo exhibition is a true reflection of the in-depth penetration of China–Africa investment and cooperation at the grass-roots level. Many people mistakenly believe that such cooperation only exists in policies and plans, but in reality, they are earnestly changing people’s lives and allowing us to rediscover boundless possibilities – for both South Africa and China, this proves that as long as we unite as one, we can achieve great things.”
Renowned South African sinologist Paul Tembe said he was deeply touched by the images showing Chinese enterprises providing safe drinking water and quality education for children. “These pictures may seem ordinary, but they actually present a vision of a world pursuing long-term equality, and are also vivid practices of the Global Development Initiative and the Global Governance Initiative proposed by the Chinese leader.”
During the exhibition, numerous contents depicting China–Africa mutual assistance, collaboration, and joint strides toward modernization attracted many South African visitors to stop and view. Several local participating guests noted that the exhibition not only highlights China’s development speed but also vividly presents the journey of China and African people advancing hand in hand on the path of development.
In addition, on-site visitors also showed strong interest in the Global Times’ “China-Africa Rhapsody” series reports featured in the exhibition, with particular attention to content such as “Chinese experts sharing technologies and professional knowledge to help African farmers increase yields and ensure food security.”
Exhibition visitors left sincere messages in the guest book: “China excels in the field of technology and is bound to become a powerful force for driving change,” “I hope we can have more collaborative events with China so we can exchange and learn from their technology.” Between the lines, there are high expectations for China–Africa cooperation.
Prior to this event, the Global Times’ “Overseas China Week” held photo exhibitions and promotional activities in South Korea, Brazil, Argentina, Germany and Kazakhstan. It tells the story of China’s development to the world, conveys China’s openness, and builds a bridge for promoting people-to-people bonds between China and other countries.
