When Zhang Qiaowen came to South Africa to pursue her Ph.D. at Stellenbosch University in 2014, she never thought that it would be so difficult to say goodbye.

"I went to South Africa as a stranger," she said. "I left three years later as an admirer of this great nation."

To give back to the country that embraced her, Zhang now helps support four schoolchildren through the Imibala Trust, a South African NGO working with school-age children from disadvantaged communities.

But she wants to do more to empower these young people after they finish their schooling. "Every time we met and talked, I could feel their strong desire to continue their education and change their lives," said Zhang, now a lecturer at the Zhejiang Normal University in east China.

This led Zhang and her friends to set up the China-Africa Bridge, a cross-border e-commerce platform helping link young African entrepreneurs with their Chinese counterparts. With the participation of Chinese companies, logistics support and banking services, it will come into service in the near future.

On the other side of the coin is 29-year-old South African Kamogotsitse Bosielo. He didn't know what to expect when he arrived in Beijing to pursue his master's degree in international relations in 2013.

His stay in China proved to be a great help in his career development, he said. He found opportunities to experience Chinese culture and learn Mandarin Chinese before returning home.

Bosielo now works at Huawei Technologies South Africa as a manager responsible for business development and client relations management. Huawei is a world leading information communications technology (ICT) company based in China,

"Exchanges among people for enhanced mutual understanding are the basis for cooperation in all aspects between the two countries," said Zhang. "That's why people-to-people connectivity is an important part of the Belt and Road Initiative."

Core values

Zhang and Bosielo's stories are not unique. Frequently people-to-people exchanges in the two countries in recent years have seen increases in the numbers of Chinese students studying in South Africa and South African students studying in China. The exchange also saw the establishment of Confucius Institutes and sister provinces and cities, and the launch of South Africa Year in China in 2014 and China Year in South Africa in 2015.

To further promote exchanges among their peoples, the two governments recently launched the China-South Africa High Level People-to-People Exchange Mechanism (PPEM).

Inaugurated on April 24 in South Africa, the PPEM seeks to deepen mutual understanding and enhance exchanges and cooperation, especially in the areas of culture, education, communications, health, science and technology, sports, tourism, and women and youth affairs.

South Africa is the first African country to launch PPEM with China. A strategic decision made by Chinese President Xi Jinping and South African President Jacob Zuma, it is also part of the follow-up actions to implement the outcomes of the Johannesburg Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) held in South Africa in December 2015.

China-South Africa relations have witnessed rapid growth since the establishment of diplomatic ties in 1998. "In the growth process, achievements in bilateral pragmatic cooperation have been fruitful," said Vice Premier Liu Yandong at the PPEM launch ceremony.

Delivering on promises

Three agreements and three memorandums of understanding were signed in the areas of arts and culture, higher education and training, communication and science and technology at the PPWM launch.

New projects announced include youth exchange, training and joint research programs.

"It is the ordinary South African and Chinese citizens that will be the greatest beneficiaries of the PPEM," said Buti Manamela, Deputy Minister in the Presidency of South Africa.

Specific deliverables to the various sectors are diverse.

In arts and culture, a youth exchange program in this sector is proposed. Performing arts and ballet institutions will be among the first to reap the rewards.

Exchanges in science and technology will benefit from a flagship research and development program focusing on big data in the ICT field. Joint research centers and a hi-tech park in Gauteng are also part of the program.

A South Africa-China Hi-Tech Exhibition will be held later this year in Beijing to foster innovation and technology partnerships and skill transfers.

Exchange programs for artisanal and technical skill development for young women and an exchange program to expose South African women to Chinese business skills have also been planned.

In terms of tourism, South African tourist guides and frontline staff in this sector are being trained in Mandarin to better serve the market, while the communications sector has a variety of training and cooperation activities planned.

More to anticipate

China has set up an office coordinating its ministerial level departments in promoting people-to-people exchanges with South Africa. It has two think tanks offering intellectual support. At the same time, South Africa also established a similar inter-ministerial committee. More investment forums, academic and cultural exchange events are imminent.

At the second Africa-China Youth Festival, a side event of the PPEM inauguration, Audruy Gomba, an unemployed college graduate from Johannesburg, found the festival and other exchange events helpful in getting to know Chinese people and pursuing his own business ideas.

"China's economy is No.2 in the world," said Gomba. "So sharing with Chinese people is very important. I hope we have more engagement with China."

Gomba said he hoped to see a South African town built in China one day where Chinese could learn to speak Zulu, his native language.

Sheriffo Mboge, a youth activist and a board member of the Gambia's National Youth Council, said that it is very important for African countries to know China.

"I am planning such exchanges in the Gambia, so [that] our young people can have the opportunity to go to China and Chinese young people can go to the Gambia for cultural exchange and study," said Mboge.

(Reporting from South Africa)