Belt and Road Youth Friendship Exchange Program kicks off in E China's Jiangsu

The Belt and Road Youth Friendship Exchange Program, organized by People's Daily Online, kicked off in Xuzhou city of east China's Jiangsu Province on Oct. 17, 2024.

Aimed at enhancing exchanges and mutual understanding among China and Latin American and the Caribbean (LAC) countries, the program features visits to three cities in Jiangsu by a delegation of over 30 journalists from the LAC countries.

Journalists from Latin American and the Caribbean (LAC) countries try augmented reality (AR) devices at China University of Mining and Technology during their visit to the university under the Belt and Road Youth Friendship Exchange Program launched by People's Daily Online. (People's Daily Online/Zhou Mengjiao)

During the program, which is slated to last until Oct. 22, journalists are expected to go to the cities of Xuzhou, Huai'an, and Lianyungang to gain insights into Jiangsu's achievements in promoting the roles of the three cities as important junctions along the routes of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), contributing to the building of an open economy, as well as the inheritance and innovation of traditional culture.

On the first day of the program, journalists visited Xuzhou-based China University of Mining and Technology (CUMT) and the Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University.

They used augmented reality (AR) glasses to see models of equipment including computer numerical control (CNC) machine tools and intelligent manufacturing equipment, and tried operating an entire production line using a controller at the student innovation training center of the CUMT.

Paulo Navas, a journalist from Venezuela's Siguaraya TV, found the visit fascinating, and hopes to learn and experience more about such facilities and bring these new technologies back to his hometown.

The Belt and Road Youth Friendship Exchange Program launched by People's Daily Online kicks off in Xuzhou city of east China's Jiangsu Province, Oct. 17, 2024. (People's Daily Online/Zhou Mengjiao)

The media delegation also visited the Joint Research Center for Bio-mining and Soil Ecological Restoration, jointly established by CUMT and Argentina's Catholic University of Salta (UCASAL).

They observed on-site demonstrations of microbial mining and biohydrogen production technology at the joint research center.

Xiao Dong, the executive director of the center, told visitors that the joint research center is committed to improving Argentina's technological capabilities for ecological restoration and the efficient protection of mines, and has optimized the development and utilization efficiency of resources such as oil, gas, lithium, and copper, contributing to the coordinated development of the mining industry and environmental restoration endeavors in both countries.

"I hope the joint research center can achieve more practical results, allowing for close exchanges between energy exploitation projects in our two countries," said Nicolas Daniel Mancini, editor of Argentine newspaper Clarin, after the visit.

During the delegation's visit to the Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University, the Ambassador of Guyana to China, Anyin Choo, held discussions with doctors of the hospital who were members of a Chinese medical aid team in Guyana.

In June 2010, Zhao Wenxing, a doctor at the hospital, served as the head of Jiangsu's ninth medical team sent to assist Guyana. The team successfully completed a two-year medical assistance mission, during which they provided medical services to over 40,000 outpatients, emergency patients, and consultation cases, performed 6,000 surgeries, and saved over 700 critically ill patients.