For three decades, Zhong Jianhua worked in diplomatic relations between China, the United Kingdom and the United States. Then he found himself posted to South Africa. This shift away from Western affairs, his area of expertise, made his career path a unique one among the Chinese ambassadors normally sent to Africa.

But Africa was a magnet. Zhong's attentions have evolved remarkably since becoming ambassador to South Africa. After his post ended, he was appointed Special Representative of the Chinese Government on African Affairs, which has helped him maintain his connection to the decidedly un-Western continent.

Friendly attitudes

Zhong had visited Africa several times prior to his posting in South Africa. But living in Africa, he soon discovered, was a totally different experience.

Africans are widely known as hospitable and kind. With China and Africa's long history of friendship, Chinese people who live in Africa may have a closer connection to locals than perhaps they experience elsewhere. "It's my working experience in Western countries that makes me fully understand the preciousness of our friendship with African people," Zhong explains.

"People living in Africa for years may be used to it, taking friendly attitudes for granted," he says. "But after meeting people from other areas in the world, I can see the uniqueness of this friendship."

After the success of the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008, Zhong received congratulations from diplomatic peers from around the world – peers who told him how surprised they were at China's job well done. But African diplomats walked straight up to him to embrace him and pat his back excitedly.

"It wasn't just congratulations," says Zhong. "Deep in their hearts, they felt proud of this success. They took us as partners."

According to Zhong, there are around 200,000 Chinese in South Africa of whom about 70 percent were farmers from southeast China coming to seek a future of possibility. They arrived with nothing, but today more than half of them have become millionaires.

The positive response of Africans to this trajectory has been surprising. "Kindness," says Zhong, "is in their nature. They value their brotherhood with Chinese people."

Needing to learn more

"Without a long time residency here, you will never realize how important Africa is to China," says Zhong. He believes that China and Western countries are almost at the point of reaching a bottleneck when it comes to their rapidly growing economies. In Africa, Zhong saw possibilities. He believes that the continent's development is the world's last opportunity to find a dynamic force.

"When we help Africa to develop, we are also helping ourselves," he says.

Still, Zhong says, Africa's great potential has been neglected by too many in China.

"It's a big problem that Chinese society is still innocent about Africa," Zhong says. He believes that officials, scholars and regular citizens all need to learn more about Africa. Even the Chinese media is not reporting on Africa in an effective way. According to Zhong, during his days in South Africa, he was given a chance to learn about an Africa he never knew before.

He met many South African politicians. Many of them had played important roles during the country's revolution for independence. Since China had similarly been founded through a people's revolution, Zhong discovered a unique emotional connection to many in his encounters.

What surprised him most was the sheer amount of Chinese history that South Africans knew. They were well versed in China's Long March, every battle fought by the Communist Party of China, details that even young Chinese are not very familiar with. This had never happened to Zhong in any other country. Some Western scholars, he says, might know about Chinese history, but few take such an interest in it as the Africans he encountered did.

While in South Africa, Zhong also became friend with Cyril Ramaphosa, who was Nelson Mandela's assistant during Mandela's fight against apartherd and for the rights of black people in South Africa. In their conversations, Ramaphosa raised many profound questions about Chinese history. "I felt ashamed," Zhong says. "How much do we know about Africa? Here we can see the difference."

Zhong suggests that as China makes an effort to promote its culture overseas, it should learn more about Africa first. "My specialized working experience let me see different things in the world," he says. "In China's development, diplomacy has always been ahead of other fields; we see the problems first. So, I feel a responsibility to tell people to pay attention. I hope more Chinese can understand the importance of Africa."