Namibians are encouraged to tap into the key activities planned for the 2026 China-Africa Year of People-to-People exchanges.
China's Ambassador to Namibia, Zhao Weiping, made the announcement during a symposium with Namibians from different walks of life who visited China.
About 600 activities are planned with 58 key activities themed around youth, culture, livelihood boosters, symphony of ideas and talent incubators.
The year of People-to-People exchanges was decided during the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) and launched in Addis Ababa at the African Union headquarters in January.
The initiative aims to deepen ties in culture, education, sports, and trade, marking a shift toward social, grassroots, and human-centred cooperation.
"People-to-people exchanges: the purpose is to further boost China in the media and also China-Africa friendship. Because people-to-people relations, that is actually the Southern foundation. And Chinese President Xi himself attaches this personal, personally attached high importance to that. They are welcome to write to us. We will certainly give due consideration," says Ambassador Weiping.
The Chinese Embassy in Namibia will organise activities, which include a media and youth delegation that will visit China.
Additionally, organise cultural activities, provide support to local communities, and create a talent incubator programme.
Educational institutions, NGOs, media practitioners, and creatives who have visited China attended the symposium, where they gave suggestions on some areas of cooperation.
Dr Samuel !Oe-Amseb, president of the Association of Local Authorities Namibia (ALAN), adds, "Local authorities are key in meeting people's interests at all times. As long as we believe that such people-to-people cooperation at local government will give concrete expression to the strategic partnership between our two countries and contribute directly to improving the lives of our citizens."
"And this is an opportunity that often we don't get. I remember when I was in China; the first trip was a business trip, and I was the one representing the creative industry, and I saw all the deals were made for everybody else but the creative industry because we were not visible at the time, but for the very first time over here, we have an industry that recognises us with key priorities, not only in terms of visibility and cultural promotion but also security, stressed creative entrepreneur Joel Haikali.