Despite fame for mega buildings and making fortune, the Chinese government and companies impressed African people with their enthusiasm for developing education.

On Monday, which was also the International Children's Day, the Chinese Consulate and business community in South Africa donated books, stationeries and food to Emdeni Secondary School in Soweto, Johannesburg as part of their celebrations.

Speaking during the handover ceremony, Chinese Consul General Sun Dali said the donation will boost the education of underprivileged children at the school.

"For the past years the Chinese community living in South Africa has been paying special attention to underdeveloped communities in South Africa and caring for students in different schools. They have made donations to communities and schools in Alexandra, Soweto and Lanseria for eight consecutive years.

Speaking on the same occasion, Speaker of the Gauteng Provincial Legislature Ntombi Mekgwe thanked the Chinese government for helping South Africa achieve its dream to deliver quality education for all.

The school authorities also praised the Chinese community for being friendly and caring. The students of Emdeni Secondary School also displayed great excitement.

The Chinese have done much more than donating text books. In terms of education, China has built 150 primary and secondary schools in Africa and trained a total of 47,000 people of various professions since 2012.

In 2012, China announced its African Talents Program: to train 30,000 personnel in various sectors for Africa in three years and offer 18,000 government scholarships. In that year alone, China offered 6,717 government scholarships to African countries.

On Tuesday, another Chinese community handed over a building named China House to the Baphumelele Orphanage in Cape Town.

The China House occupies 1,000 square meters with a building area of 500 square meters consisting of nine rooms at a cost of 2. 2 million rand (about 183,000 US dollars). It can accommodate 38 orphans.

Chinese Ambassador to South Africa, Tian Xuejun said the House "is a very precious holiday gift for the children".

He praised the China House as both beautiful and practical, meeting the children's need for living, studying and entertaining.

The completion of China House, he said, is a happy event in the Year of China in South Africa, carrying the deep friendship of the local Chinese community and friends from all walks of life, and provides a vivid annotation to the Year of China in South Africa.

Patricia de Lille, Mayor of Cape Town, expressed her gratitude for the care and love showen by the Chinese community towards the underprivileged and the poor.

"It is showing us that you care about our children," she said. "We're living in a global village and the children belong to all of us all over the world". Endi

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