Over the years, African youth have expressed strong interest in the outer space and their desire to “fly to space” some day in the future. Chinese government are ready to actively support these “African Dreams” of exploring the vast universe.

The Secretariat of the Chinese Follow-up Committee of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) and the China Manned Space Engineering Office are co-hosting a painting competition on the theme of “My Dream” starting from 1 March, 2023. Malawian teenagers are invited to describe their dreams into drawings and submit their works. The Chinese and African sides will jointly select 10 First Prize, 15 Second Prize, 25 Third Prize among all entries. Besides trophies, first-prize winners will be awarded 600，000 kwacha , second-prize winners 370,000 kwacha and third-prize winners 300,000 kwacha. Moreover, 10 awarded entries will be brought to Chinese Tiangong space station by the Shenzhou spacecraft within this year, and be exhibited on social media platforms to reach a wider audience.

The participants are advised to submit the photo of his/her work together with its title and a brief introduction (about 200 words), and the participant's name, age and contact information to the Embassy's E-mail: chinaemb_mw@mfa.gov.cn and send the original work with a mark of “Painting Competition” to the Embassy (Address: Area 13/188, Presidential Way, Lilongwe) by 25 March, 2023. There are no specific requirements regarding the texture of the painting but the size shall not exceed A3 format i.e. 420mm*297mm. Participants are also encouraged to share videos or pictures reflecting their creation process through E-mail.

              Secretariat of the Chinese Follow-up Committee of FOCAC

                      China Manned Space Engineering Office

                Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in Malawi

                                6 March 2023