AU chairperson highlights people-to-people exchanges as key to China-Africa future

African Union (AU) Commission Chairperson Mahmoud Ali Youssouf has emphasized that people-to-people exchanges are vital for strengthening China-Africa relations, during an exclusive interview with China Media Group (CMG) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

The opening ceremony of the 2026 China-Africa Year of People-to-People Exchanges was held at the African Union headquarters on Jan 8. According to the Chinese Foreign Ministry, the two sides will jointly host nearly 600 cultural and people-to-people exchange activities in 2026 to enhance exchanges and mutual learning between the two civilizations, and promote mutual understanding and connection between the peoples.

Organizing the 2026 China-Africa Year of People-to-People Exchanges is an important consensus reached by leaders from both sides at the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation Beijing Summit in 2024.

President Xi Jinping sent a congratulatory letter to the opening of the 2026 China-Africa Year of People-to-People Exchanges, in which he stressed that exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations are a driving force for human progress and a foundation for peace and development.

In the CMG interview aired Friday, Youssouf, who attended the opening ceremony, said that putting people first is the key to achieving development goals and consolidating China-Africa relations.

"First of all, I want to thank and congratulate President Xi Jinping for this initiative of making of this year 2026 the year of partnership between the people of China and people of Africa. We believe that in this continent, if we want to succeed in what we are trying to do in Agenda 2063 objectives, it should be people-centered. I think this concept of creating those bridges between the Chinese people and the African people is really an existential issue, because at the end of the day, our political action is in the best interest for the well-being of our people. So we welcome this idea. We have been privileged to host this event here. I think it's a really a launching pad for a very rich year of exchanges between our two peoples," he said.

AU chairperson highlights people-to-people exchanges as key to China-Africa future

China's trade in services maintained a positive trend in the first quarter of 2026, with the total trade achieving a year-on-year increase of 2.3 percent, according to data released by the Ministry of Commerce on Friday.

In the first quarter of 2026, China's total service trade volume reached over 1.8 trillion yuan (about 267.9 billion U.S. dollars). Exports of services totaled 704.52 billion yuan, up 11.2 percent, while services imports totaled 1.1 trillion yuan, down 2.6 percent.

China's trade in services during the period mainly exhibited two characteristics, said the ministry.

First, the exports of knowledge-intensive services maintained rapid growth.

Trade in knowledge-intensive services expanded by 1.6 percent year on year to 793.71 billion yuan in the first quarter, accounting for 43.5 percent of total service trade.

Exports of knowledge-intensive services reached 384.26 billion yuan, up 6.1 percent year on year. Personal cultural and entertainment services, as well as financial services, recorded particularly sharp export gains of 25.6 percent and 16.1 percent, respectively. Imports of knowledge-intensive services totaled 409.45 billion yuan, down 2.3 percent year on year.

Second, travel service exports and transport services imports grew rapidly.

In the first quarter, travel service exports jumped 32.3 percent year on year to 105.35 billion yuan in the reporting period, the highest growth among all service export sectors.

Meanwhile, imports of transport services totaled 230.2 billion yuan in the first three months, an increase of 22.8 percent, marking the fastest pace in the top five service import categories by scale.

Inbound tourism has been booming in recent years after China introduced expanded visa-free policies and conveniences such as instant tax refunding for departing visitors.

China's trade in services maintains positive growth in Q1