On 21 April 2026, Ambassador Han Jing attended the Qi Yue Adolescent Recitation Performance Festival, hosted by the Chinese Culture Information Association and organized by the Confucius Institute at the University of Zambia, with the support of the Zambia Chinese Association. Hon. Douglas Syakalima, Minister of Education of Zambia, Prof. Mundia Muya, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Zambia, Mr. Zhang Jian, Chairman of the Zambia Chinese Association, and Prof. Fan Guoping and Prof. David Mwanza, Directors of the Confucius Institute at UNZA also attended. Over 200 participants, including performers, representatives of the Chinese community and media houses, were present.

Ambassador Han Jing stated that this festival, as another important event of the ongoing China-Zambia Week of People-to-People Exchanges, provided a valuable platform for young people from China and Zambia to forge friendship through recitation. He noted that as the 2026 China-Africa Year of People-to-People Exchanges is celebrated, this event not only paid tribute to Mr. Qi Yue's pursuit of the art of language, but also sowed seeds of cross-culture dialogue into the hearts of young people in both countries, playing a positive role in enhancing people-to-people bonds and cultural exchanges. He encouraged people of both countries to work hand in hand in passing down from generation to generation the readiness for cultural exchanges and mutual learning, in a view to writing new chapters in China-Zambia friendship.

Hon. Syakalima stated that this event demonstrated the unique role of language and cultural exchanges in deepening Zambia-China relations. Recitation and performances not only help enhance language proficiency, but also cultivate confidence, creativity and cross-cultural understanding among young people. The Zambian government will continue to work closely with China to support Chinese language teaching, people-to-people exchanges and youth empowerment activities, and take the bilateral relations to the next level.

Prof. Muya, Mr. Zhang, Prof. Fan and Prof. Mwanza expressed satisfaction over the fact that more and more young people are learning the Chinese language and taking over the responsibility of promoting China-Zambia people-to-people exchanges, and encouraged youths from both countries to work together to build a bridge of cultural exchanges.

Performers from the Confucius Institute at UNZA, the Zambia Chinese Association, the Association of Chinese Corporation in Zambia, the Association of Chinese Corporation in Zambia and local international schools staged recitation, singing, dancing, martial arts and other programs. The audience responded with enthusiastic applause and cheers.