The Third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation Thematic Forum on People-to-People Connectivity was held in Beijing on October 18^th. Li Hongzhong, member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress participated and delivered keynote speeches. The thematic forum was hosted by the International Department, Central Committee of CPC. More than 300 persons participated in the conference, including politicians, experts and scholars, representatives of non-governmental organizations and representatives of relevant domestic departments.

In the forum through the live performance of stage play “For the Colorful Dreams of Millions of Kids”, China Foundation for Rural Development and Alibaba Philanthropy described how the Panda Pack project team represented by Ms. Zou Zhiqiang overcame various difficulties in work and life and brought panda packs to Nepalese children to help them realize the colorful dreams. Participants strongly empathized with the story and there were several rounds of warm applause at the scene.

Up to September in 2023, under the support of Alibaba Philanthropy and millions of business owners on Alibaba E-commerce Platform, Panda Pack Project has been implemented in 14 countries, including Myanmar, Nepal, Ethiopia, Cambodia, Laos, Pakistan, Namibia, Uganda, Burundi, Philippines, Chad, Mongolia, Zimbabwe and South Sudan, benefiting more than 1.2 million persons. It is one of the biggest public welfare projects overseas conducted by Chinese social organizations. The project was awarded Best Poverty Reduction Case in the Second Call of Global Solicitation on Best Poverty Reduction Practices and collected into the Global Poverty Reduction Online Knowledge Sharing Database.

Since the launch of Panda Pack Project five years ago, it has been the iconic project during the past ten years when Chinese social organizations took part in the construction of Belt and Road. According to “Presidential Statement of the Third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation” released on October 18, Panda Pack Project was selected into “Appendix II: List of practical cooperation projects of the Third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation”. When presently interviewed by the reporter of “China Community Newspaper” and the reporter of “China Social Organization” magazine, principle of Civil Affairs Ministry also mentioned and introduced the impact of Panda Pack Project on the construction of Belt and Road.

China Community Newspaper

Panda Pack Project as the relevant case of Chinese social organizations taking part in the construction of Belt and Road – “Panda Pack from the Panda Country”

Bainza Fadek, a student in seventh grade at Busaala Primary School in Mayugai District, eastern Uganda, Africa, could never have dreamed of it that one day he would receive a gift from China – panda pack.

On the day of project launching, China Foundation for Rural Development came to a rough bungalow in Mayugai district with panda packs. Bainza and his classmates all received the packs. There were 22 kinds of study and daily necessities in each pack. Kids were very happy to find that there were various goods in the new schoolbag, including pencils, pencil case, watercolor pens, erasers, notebooks, coloring books, lunch box, water bottle, raincoat and so on. Most of them used plastic bags as schoolbags before. They could hardly see long pencils and even never used watercolor pens.

The pack Bainza received comes from the Panda Pack Project jointly initiated by China Foundation for Rural Development and Alibaba Philanthropy. All the money is donated by millions of business owners on Alibaba E-commerce Platform, adding up to hundreds of millions of donations. Wherever the staffs in the project go, they would explain where the donations are from. Although children are hard to understand the relation in it, they all know that panda packs come from the panda country – China.

As the national treasure of China, panda is popular among the world, naturally becoming the symbol of Chinese culture. The pack’s outlook adopts the image of panda. Kids are extremely fond of the panda design on schoolbags and have a deeper impression of China’s broadness, kindness and friendliness.

Panda Pack Project exactly gives the most needed study and daily items to primary school students in “Belt and Road” co-construction countries and hopes that this gift from the panda country could plant the seeds of love and friendship in the hearts of children.