An African youth plays a Chinese instrument at the 7th China-Africa Youth Festival. [Photo provided to China Dailyl]

The 7th China-Africa Youth Festival kicked off on April 18, bringing together 49 young representatives from 48 African countries to explore Beijing and Shandong province.

The event is jointly hosted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, China Soong Ching Ling Foundation and the provincial government of Shandong.

These African youth representatives will visit various places during the week-long event, such as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Museum of the Communist Party of China, the former residence of Soong Ching Ling and the Juyongguan Great Wall. Multiple workshops have also been designed to allow them to experience traditional Chinese culture. When in Shandong, they will participate in a China-Africa youth dialogue and visit high-tech enterprises and demonstration areas for rural revitalization in Jinan, Tai'an, Weifang and Qingdao.

The 7th China-Africa Youth Festival kicked off on April 18, bringing together 49 young representatives from 48 African countries to explore Beijing and Shandong province. [Photo provided to China Daily]

During the opening ceremony, Li Bin, President of China Soong Ching Ling Foundation, expressed her hope that all participants in the event could feel the friendly enthusiasm of the Chinese people towards Africa, see the spirit and style of Chinese youth, experience China's rapid development, and understand the specific practices of China's modernization path and the unremitting efforts of the Chinese people to achieve the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

"I believe what you will see is a vibrant China in the spring. A real three-dimensional and comprehensive China, a China that is injecting strong certainty and new vitality into the world with its new development," Li said.