Mirai: Tell More People about China’s Poverty Alleviation Story

“Studying abroad in China has given me a deeper understanding of this country.” said Zimbabwean boy Mirai (Full Name: Tungamirai Eric Mupona), speaking fluent Mandarin. He said that inheriting friendship between Africa and China and promoting communication between the two sides are now his unremitting pursuit.

Mirai grew up in rural northeastern Zimbabwe. Once, he went to his uncle’s house to play and learned about distant China for the first time through television. “I watched Chinese movies and many documentaries about China on TV, and then I have infinite longing for this Eastern country.” After graduating from high school in 2017, Mirai decided to study in China. He first studied applied physics major at Zhejiang University of Science and Technology, and then entered Zhejiang University to study for a master’s degree in international affairs and global governance.

“When I first arrived in China, I didn’t know Chinese and encountered many difficulties in life. However, the enthusiastic help of my teachers and classmates quickly helped me adapt to everything.” Mirai said. He and his classmates studied and discussed together in class, and after class, everyone played football, rowed dragon boats, and volunteered together. “Life was enjoyable. China’s educational environment and subject level are attracting the attention of more and more international students.”

In addition to studying, Mirai always looks for opportunities to participate in social practice and particularly enjoys visiting rural areas in China. What is the secret to China’s victory in poverty alleviation? What is the experience of rural revitalization in China? Can China’s experience be used for reference by other developing countries? With these questions in mind, Mirai visited provinces such as Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Shanxi, Guangdong, Jiangsu, and sometimes stayed in the village for a month.

“Jinyun County, Lishui City, Zhejiang Province invested in the establishment of a brand building office to create a ‘Golden Visiting Card’ for enriching the people and increasing income and economic development; grass-roots cadres in Shahao Village, Xingxian County, Lüliang, Shanxi Province put themselves in the villagers’ living situations and wholeheartedly serve the villagers…” When talking about what they saw and heard in rural China, Mirai is as if he was enumerating the heirlooms of his own family. In his view, the strong leadership of the CPC, the development of characteristic industries in line with local conditions and the stimulation of the endogenous power of the masses are the inexhaustible power of rural revitalization in China.

With observation and reflection on China, after the successful conclusion of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, Mirai went to the enterprise and campus with the teachers and students of Zhejiang University of Science and Technology and Zhejiang University to make a theme tour to share his view of Chinese path to modernization. Mirai said, “China’s practice has proved to the world that modernization is not simply ‘copy and paste’. Chinese path to modernization has provided the world with a new paradigm of modernization, that is, starting from its own reality, adapting to its own national conditions, developing for the people and relying on the people. I myself am a child coming out of the countryside, and I want to tell more people about China’s poverty alleviation story, so that more people can get rich.”

This autumn, Mirai will pursue a doctoral degree at Zhejiang University. Turning to the future, Mirai said: “Living in China, learning in China, growing up in China, I cherish every day in China. After I have learned something, I will contribute my own strength to promote the construction of an African-China community of shared future.”

Source: www.istudy-china.com