Dialogue with Generation Z of China and South Africa successfully held online

In the lead up to National Youth Day in South Africa, which will fall on June 16, Longyuan South Africa Renewables, a subsidiary of China Longyuan Power Group Corp & China Energy Investment Corp, conducted a discussion centred on Generation Z, also known as Gen Z, focusing on South Africa and China, on May 31, 2022.

According to relevant institutes' research, Gen Z comprises 46 percent of South Africa's population, with 27.5 million young people. South Africa’s Gen Z has emerged as the new driving force behind the country’s economic progress. How is this demographic benefiting from the good relations between South Africa and China in terms of their bilateral economic and cultural exchanges? Longyuan South Africa Renewables convened and conducted a helpful debate with Gen Z participants from both China and South Africa with these themes in mind.

Lai Chaoran, Director of the Youth Reading Club of the Consulate-General of China in Johannesburg gives an opening speech.

In his opening speech, Lai Chaoran, Director of the Youth Reading Club of the Consulate-General of China in Johannesburg, remarked that “Generation Z enjoys many benefits not only from the bilateral economic cooperation, but also from educational and cultural exchanges. At present, more than 10 Chinese universities have established cooperative relations with South African universities. Hunan University of China, Stellenbosch University of South Africa, Northeast Normal University of China and the University of Pretoria of South Africa have been selected as partners for the ‘20+20 Cooperation Plan’ among Chinese and African universities within the framework of the China-Africa Cooperation Forum.”

Spirited discussions took place, with many Gen Z participants discussing their concerns and preferences with regards to navigating the new world of employment.

When Lesego Masemola, a 17-year-old high school student, was asked to describe her ideal working environment, she replied: “I would say that, a closed space, I don’t know about you, but it cultivates the feeling of being limited and it sort of creates like a mental block, it feels like you’re in sort of a prison and I feel that it is important that you are able to be creative and your able to like explore different possibilities and not feel that sort of confinement.”

The Dialogue with the Generation Z in China and South Africa is successfully held online.

Sharing her take on the major differences between Gen Z in South Africa and Gen Z in China, Maxine Werth, an assistant project manager at the Chinese Culture and International Education Exchange Centre, said that “Our generation and Generation Z in China have more in common than any other generation before and I think it is because of globalization.”

More than 30 representatives from the Confucius Classroom of the Chinese Culture and International Education Exchange Centre, Bank of China Johannesburg Branch, Aberdare Cables, People's Daily Online South Africa, and the Confucius Institute of the University of Johannesburg, along with other organizations, attended the event.

The Dialogue was an overall success with many viewpoints having been shared via the forum. Longyuan South Africa Renewables hopes to host many more such events to encourage ongoing conversations between China and South Africa in the future.