Embalo Mama Samba speaks at the 6th China-Africa Future Leaders’ Dialogue in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, in July (COURTESY)

Living and studying in China has given me the opportunity to experience the country from different perspectives. 

My interest in China began when I was young, through Chinese kung fu films. What started as a fascination with the movies gradually developed into an interest in Chinese culture. As I grew older, I also became increasingly aware of China’s rapid development in areas ranging from education and science to technology, infrastructure and innovation. 

My China journey began in Beijing, where I had my first major experience of Chinese society. As a large, international city deeply rooted in Chinese history and culture, Beijing brings together leading universities, people from around the world and a distinctive mix of tradition and modernity. I was particularly impressed by its technological development, infrastructure and the convenience of everyday life. I also found Chinese people welcoming and willing to help foreigners. 

Living and studying in Shanghai has given me another perspective. Highly international and economically dynamic, Shanghai is closely connected to business, innovation and global exchange. As one of China’s major economic and financial centres, it has allowed me to observe how China engages with the wider world while continuing my academic and professional development. 

Beyond Beijing and Shanghai, I have visited around 18 other Chinese cities. Travelling across different regions has broadened my understanding of the country, exposing me to diverse local cultures, lifestyles, economic activities and development patterns. 

Each place has shown me a different side of China and reinforced my appreciation of the country’s remarkable diversity and scale. 

Opportunities for personal development 

My experience in China has been overwhelmingly positive. I have come to see China as a place where there is much to learn, provided one is determined to make the most of the opportunities. My formal education has been important, but equally valuable have been the language skills, cultural understanding, networks and practical experience I have gained beyond the classroom. 

This experience has encouraged me to serve as a bridge between China and Africa, particularly between China and my country, Guinea-Bissau. Through my consulting initiative, I hope to help entrepreneurs from Guinea-Bissau and other African countries explore opportunities in the Chinese market, while helping Chinese partners understand opportunities in Guinea-Bissau and other African markets. 

The idea of founding the African Students’ Confederation in China grew from my experience in student leadership and my desire to contribute to my community, country and continent. In 2023, together with colleagues, I worked to reactivate and restructure the Bissau-Guinean student association in China, strengthening unity, academic excellence and opportunities for students. 

We soon realised that many challenges were shared by African students from other countries, including academic integration, access to information, student welfare, cultural adaptation and institutional communication. By the end of 2023, we began discussing a continental platform for cooperation. 

The discussions gained momentum in 2024. In 2025, we organised the first International Conference of African Students’ Associations in China, bringing together representatives from around 20 African countries. In 2026, the second conference was held, during which the African Students’ Confederation in China was formally launched. 

The principle is simple: our national identities matter, but our shared African identity gives us an additional responsibility to cooperate. The Confederation provides a continental platform for unity, solidarity and mutual support. It complements rather than replaces country-specific student unions, creating a space for issues affecting African students collectively. Its rotational leadership ensures that it belongs to the African student community as a whole. 

Our goal is to build a sustainable institution that future generations can inherit and strengthen. 

I encourage African students in China to see their time here as more than a period of study. Learn the language, understand the society, build meaningful relationships and explore opportunities beyond your academic field. Most importantly, ask what you will do with the knowledge and opportunities you have received. 

Studying abroad should enhance not only our qualifications, but also our sense of responsibility. If we use our experience to create opportunities, strengthen our communities and deepen Africa-China relations, our time in China can become part of a larger contribution to Africa’s future. 

Embalo Mama Samba during a visit to an agricultural equipment manufacturing plant in Weifang, Shandong Province, on 6 August (HU FAN)

Becoming a China-Africa bridge 

China-Africa relations have become an important partnership shaping the contemporary development landscape. African countries have benefitted in various ways from cooperation with China, including in infrastructure, education, trade, technology, investment and capacity building, while China also benefits from its partnerships, markets and engagement with African countries. 

Like any major international relationship, its long-term strength depends on continuing to make cooperation practical, mutually beneficial, respectful and increasingly meaningful to ordinary people. 

This is where young people have a particularly important role to play. 

African students in China occupy a unique position because we experience China directly while remaining deeply connected to our families, communities and countries in Africa. We therefore have the ability, and I would say the responsibility, to become informed bridges between the two societies. 

Many people in China still have limited direct knowledge of the diversity and realities of Africa, just as many people in African countries know China mainly through second-hand information. Students and young professionals who understand both environments can help reduce misconceptions, explain cultures more accurately, build professional and academic networks, create businesses, encourage research collaboration and turn people-to-people friendship into practical cooperation. 

The future of China-Africa relations will not depend only on governments and major institutions. It will also depend on whether the younger generation can turn today’s educational and cultural exchanges into tomorrow’s partnerships.  

The author is a Bissau-Guinean master’s student from East China University of Science and Technology