From September 4th to 6th, 2024, Beijing will host the 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation. To celebrate this event, CGTN, in collaboration with Egyptian partners, will premiere a five-part mini-documentary series called "Initial Impressions: Together on the Road to Modernization". This series features 10 speakers who share stories from the front lines of Sino-Egyptian endeavors towards modernization across multiple sectors. The goal is to illustrate the dynamic steps towards building a new era's China-Africa community with a shared destiny and highlight the active efforts in media production cooperation with Egypt to promote modernization.

Nawar Majid Shaheed(纳瓦尔·马吉德·沙希德), an Iraqi student from the School of Soil and Water Conservation, BFU, was among the faculty and students invited to partake in a documentary recording. Featured in the fourth episode, "Yellow and Green: From 'Confrontation' to 'Collaboration'", the narrative centers on the theme that Chinese modernization promotes a harmonious coexistence between humans and nature. This episode explores the strategies implemented by China and Egypt to combat desertification, their respective successes, and their collaborative efforts on the international stage.

Nawar Majid Shaheed shared that in Yanchi County in Northwest China, excessive grazing had once resulted in over half of the land being engulfed by sand dunes, displacing local communities from their land and homes. Two decades ago, Beijing Forestry University established the Maowusu Sandy Land Ecosystem National Monitoring Research Station in Yanchi, spearheading efforts to study desertification control. He said:"The focus of sand and desert control is not about eradicating deserts, since deserts form an integral part of the natural environment." BFUers have been engaged in pioneering projects in ecology and soil science, seeking innovative ways to achieve a sustainable coexistence with the desert environment.

"Initial Impressions", a flagship program by CGTN, has released four seasons, exploring the deep cultural ties and shared development goals between Chinese and Arabic societies through carefully chosen poetic expressions from both languages. The program features personal narratives from 60 guests, reaching over 55 million viewers worldwide. The series has been featured and promoted by nearly 30 media organizations across countries like Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Morocco, Iraq, Algeria, and Oman, enhancing its international visibility and impact.

Link: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/Vmzqr0sOT9IcUyIFBZmPLw

Translated and edited by Song He
Reviewed by Yu Yangyang