！（首发，国际部）【南 非】中国风筝首次亮相开普敦国际风筝节
The Cape Town International Kite Festival took flight this weekend, featuring spectacular kites from local and international participants in a breathtaking display of color, creativity and craftsmanship.
Now in its 31st year, the two-day festival's theme, "Courage to Fly", celebrates the bravery it takes to face life's challenges and rise above them, particularly those linked to mental health.
As one of the oldest and largest international kite festivals in Africa, the fun-filled event welcomes kite enthusiasts from all over the world every year to showcase their unique kites.
"And this is our first time here, first festival in Cape Town. So we are really happy to be here," said a kite flyer.
"I'm coming from Germany, and we live near the French and Luxembourg border. My wife and me, we [have been] flying kites since 1996. [Our kite measures] six or seven meters wide by 10 meters long, something like that," said another festival participant.
This year's festival also welcomed a Chinese dragon kite designed and made by teachers and students of the Confucius Institute at Stellenbosch University.
"This is our first time participating in the Kite Festival. The organizing committee was particularly pleased to see our Chinese team. This is an important element in making the International Kite Festival truly international," said Zheng Ruojuan, director of the Confucius Institute at Stellenbosch University.
Organized annually since 1994 by Cape Mental Health, the festival aims to raise awareness of mental health and funds for essential free mental health services and celebrate resilience.
"We want to give a message of hope and courage and bravery, because we all face challenges, mental health challenges daily. And kites are pretty fragile, the string is pretty fragile. But when you look up into the sky, you see this amazing kite, so against adverse winds, and so it's beautiful, and I would love to see your beautiful dragon," said Ingrid Daniels, CEO of Cape Mental Health, who also expressed eagerness to see the Confucius Institute's dragon kite fly at the festival.
Cape Town International Kite Festival takes to sky
The Ministry of Commerce said on Thursday that it expects new momentum in bilateral economic and trade cooperation with Finland during Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo's official visit to China from January 25 to 28.
Regarding the bilateral trade relations, a ministry spokesperson noted that Finland is an important economic and trade partner of China in Europe and was the first European country to sign an inter-governmental trade agreement with China.
Under the strategic guidance of the two countries' leaders, China-Finland economic and trade cooperation has seen its foundation steadily strengthened and its scope continuously expanded, the spokesperson said.
In 2025, two-way trade exceeded 8 billion U.S. dollars, while mutual investment stock surpassed 23 billion U.S. dollars, reflecting sustained enthusiasm from enterprises on both sides to deepen mutually beneficial cooperation.
Prime Minister Orpo will be accompanied by executives from more than 20 Finnish companies spanning machinery, forestry, innovation, clean energy, food and other key sectors, highlighting Finland's strong desire to deepen economic engagement with China, according to the spokesperson.
China and Finland are also preparing for the sixth meeting of the China-Finland Committee for Innovative Business Cooperation, with around 50 companies expected to take part. During the visit, China's Ministry of Commerce and the Finnish side will sign a memorandum of understanding on strengthening the committee's work, while companies from both countries are set to conclude multiple commercial agreements.
These arrangements fully demonstrate that both China and Finland have the will, confidence, and capability to promote the sound and steady development of bilateral economic and trade cooperation, the spokesperson noted.
Looking ahead, the spokesperson stressed that the two countries enjoy strong complementarity and broad cooperation potential in green and innovation-driven development. Chinese and Finnish companies are encouraged to seize the new opportunities presented by China's ongoing high-level opening-up and to further cooperate in green transition, information technology, the digital economy and related fields.
The Ministry of Commerce expressed its readiness to work with relevant Finnish institutions to implement the important consensus reached by the leaders of both countries, enhance communication on economic and trade policies, provide quality services to enterprises, and further deepen and solidify bilateral cooperation.
China, Finland to enhance economic ties during PM Orpo's visit: spokesperson
China, Finland to enhance economic ties during PM Orpo's visit: spokesperson
