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This is the Beijing Hour, examining the events that impact and shape china and the rest of the world.
This is the beijing hour one hour of news and information brought to you every weekday.
Now here's your host tianlu, with you on this tuesday, october the 7th 2025.
You're listening to a special holiday edition of the beijing hour, coming to you live from the chinese capital.
On today's program, Israel and Hamas have held their first day of indirect talks in Egypt on the details of a Gaza ceasefire plan.
No end yet in sight for the US government shutdown as more attempts to break the impasse on federal funding fail in the Senate.
And China sees a travel surge as the National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holiday is coming to an end.
In the second half of the program, we take you to a primary school built with Chinese assistance in Botswana and explore how it is providing quality education and changing the lives of children and their families in the African country.
Now checking today's top stories.
Delegations from Israel and Hamas have held their first day of indirect negotiations in Egypt over the Gaza ceasefire plan proposed by US President Donald Trump.
The talks in Sham al-Sheikh come as Israel's bombardment of Gaza enters its third year, after Hamas stormed southern Israel, taking dozens of hostages.
The core issues of the negotiations include a permanent ceasefire, prisoner exchange, the timetable for the withdrawal of Israeli troops, humanitarian aid access, the disarmament of Hamas and Gaza's future governance and security.
The Hamas delegation says the talks made positive progress, but Israel's continuing offensive in Gaza poses challenges to the release of Israeli hostages.
Adola Maruki reports from Sharm el-Sheikh.
The talks for the day one concluded with what Egypt is describing as a positive atmosphere.
The details of what has been reached or not was not announced, but we know for sure that the talks will be stretching for at least a couple of more days, which is a positive indication that what happened on Monday can lead to further negotiations.
They've been discussing the release of hostages and the number of the Palestinian prisoners who will be released from Israel, as well as their names.
And this has been one of the main points of the negotiations.
So there remain to be two major sticking points.
First of all, Israel's willingness to completely withdraw from Gaza, which is a demand Hamas insists on as a guarantee for the non-resumption of Israeli military activity inside the Gaza enclave.
Already there have been attacks and strikes reported while the talks were ongoing scheduled in Egypt yesterday.
So this is something that Hamas has not been happy about.
At the same time, Israel says it will not withdraw unless all points of the Trump plan have been achieved, including the disarmament of Hamas, another point Hamas rejects.
Hamas fears to hand over all the hostages and lose leverage over Israel.
There is a sense of mistrust that has been greatly established.
Hamas insists that it will only let go of its arms once a Palestinian state, an independent Palestinian state, is achieved.
That was Adela Maruki on the first day of indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas in Egypt.
With peace talks underway in Egypt, Trump has urged Israel to suspend its strikes on Gaza.
Residents in Gaza say Israel has scaled back its offensive, but authorities there report 19 people have been killed by Israeli strikes over the past 24 hours.
The figure is around a third of the recent daily death toll.
However, people in Gaza are desperate for the fighting to end altogether.
Rami Almagari reports from Gaza.
The majority of the population here are just waiting for a serious outcome, a concrete outcome, the end of their suffering, the end of displacement and the end of starvation.
They want this to come at any price and they call on the negotiators, on the Hamas negotiators, to make every possible effort through negotiators, through mediators, actually to reach an agreement with the Israeli government.
That is the situation, reactions.
Some intellectuals say that they are not actually counting on some serious Hamas' response.
Some others say that they are also skeptical towards Israel's upcoming steps.
If the first stage comes to an end safely and Israeli hostages will be released by Hamas in the upcoming days, they understand that there might be some kind of Israeli obstacles for the second phase of negotiations that is considered to be the most sensitive and the most serious.
In terms of the update on the ground, Israeli forces continue their actions strikes, bombardments in different parts of the Gaza Strip, in the southern parts of the Gaza Strip, in Hanunis, in central Gaza Strip and particularly in Gaza City, where Israel has been intensifying strikes and bombardments, despite the fact that President Donald Trump had asked or had demanded Israel to stop its attacks, its strikes and actions across Gaza City to allow Hamas to be able to take out the Israeli hostages.
That was Rami Amoghari from Gaza.
Israel says it has deported Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg and 170 others who were arrested from an international flotilla attempting to deliver aid to Gaza.
Officials say the activists were flown to Greece and Slovakia.
Israel's foreign ministry claims their rights were respected, but activists allege they were treated inhumanely during detention and denied food and medicines.
They came with boats next to us and jumped and aimed their guns at us.
We had the laser light from the guns aimed at our chests.
We all have to stand up against what they are doing because they are not going to stop.
They make it very clear that their intention is to erase all of Palestine, and we cannot let this happen.
We really can't.
Me and other 400 people were kidnapped by Israel in international waters.
This is a grave violation of international and maritime law.
Our only fault was humanity.
We could not stand still while watching a live-strip genocide in Gaza and the Israel violations.
What we experience is just a glimpse of what Palestinians experience every day.
The latest deportations bring the total number expelled to 341 out of 479 members of the Global Sumud Flotilla.
The flotilla set sail from Barcelona in early September and was intercepted by the Israeli Navy off the coasts of Egypt and Gaza last week.
The United Nations Agency for Palestinian Refugees has published an overview of the impact of two years of fighting on Gaza and its population.
As of October 2025, UNRWA says over 66000 people have been reported killed, more than 18000 of whom were children.
Nearly all residents of Gaza have been displaced, many of them multiple times.
Close to 80% of structures are damaged or destroyed.
Famine has been confirmed in the north central Gaza and is projected to spread.
Over 450 people have died of malnutrition, a third of them children.
Over 98% of cropland is damaged or inaccessible.
Nearly 90% of water and sanitation assets were destroyed or damaged.
Over 790 attacks have taken place on health workers, patients and hospitals in Gaza.
Half a million women and girls lack sufficient menstrual hygiene materials.
Over 40% of families live near uncollected waste.
Nearly 660,000 children have been forced out of school for the third year in a row.
Coming up.
No end yet in sight for the US government shutdown as more attempts to break the impasse on federal funding fail in the Senate.
The best military commander is not he who fights a hundred battles and wins every one of them.
The best military strategy does not lead to the desiccation of the enemy's capital city.
Decoding the Art of War will help you understand why there's no art in war and how Sun Tzu stayed undefeatable using the science of war, with fun stories and insightful breakdown of famous battles.
Find Decoding the Art of War wherever you listen.
Now it's nine minutes past eight hour.
The US government shutdown shows little sign of ending after new attempts to break the deadlock failed in the Senate late Monday.
Both Republican and Democratic proposals fell short of the votes needed to pass.
President Donald Trump says he is willing to work with Democrats on a health care policy, a key sticking point in the dispute, but insists the shutdown must end first.
Mitch McCann has more.
President Trump is ratcheting up the pressure on Democrats to get on board with a Republican-led bill threatening to lay off thousands of federal workers.
When asked on Sunday evening when the layoffs might start, President Trump replied it's beginning to take place right now.
At the heart of the issue and the reason Democrats won't sign on to a spending bill are demands for the permanent extension of federal subsidies to help Americans afford health insurance under the Affordable Care Act, often referred to as Obamacare.
Republicans say the issue of health care subsidies can be discussed later in the year and they are describing the shutdown as the Democrats' fault.
On Monday, Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson described Democrats' refusal to back the spending bill as madness and theatrics and took aim at Senate Minority Leader Democrat Chuck Schumer.
Chuck Schumer is scrambling.
He has to have an issue.
None of their policies are very popular.
So they decided to lob on to health care.
And he decided to claim to all of you that that is the issue with government funding.
It is not.
They're two totally separate things.
The clean continuing resolution would simply keep the lights on so that the members in the House and Senate can have those debates on health care.
We were always planning and we have lots of ideas on the table on how to fix it.
Speaker Johnson turned down an opportunity to debate the House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries on Monday after Mr Jeffries wrote in a letter.
A debate on the House floor will provide the American people with the transparency they deserve.
President, Donald Trump is using the shutdown as an opportunity to pressure Democrats into voting for the funding bill by threatening mass layoffs of the federal workforce.
Mr Trump has indicated to his close ally, Russell Vogt, who leads the Office of Management and Budget, where to make large cuts, suggesting that, if they happen, the Democrats will be to blame.
Although Democrats say this is just an excuse for the White House to finish the mass layoffs they started at the start of the year under the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE.
The shutdown has left more than 19 million federal civilian employees furloughed, meaning they've been sent home or directed to work without pay.
The Council of Economic Advisers is warning the US could lose 15 billion in gross domestic product each week.
The shutdown continues.
That was Mitch McCann reporting on the latest efforts to end the U.S. government shutdown.
U.S.
President, Donald Trump is facing new legal challenges over his latest efforts to deploy troops to Democrat-run cities where protests have erupted over his immigration crackdown.
Trump says he may invoke the Insurrection Act to justify the move if federal courts block him from sending the National Guard to Oregon and Illinois.
Protesters in US immigration and customs enforcement officers facing off again in Portland Oregon, on Sunday evening after a weekend of demonstrations over deportations.
And legal maneuvers.
U.S.
President, Donald Trump's attempts to deploy Oregon's National Guard to Portland and then troops from California and Texas, all blocked by a Republican judge.
And on Monday, the Democrat governor of Illinois sued to stop the Trump administration federalizing his state's National Guard for a deployment to Chicago, where similar protests have taken place.
Let me be clear.
Donald Trump is using our service members as political props and as pawns in his illegal effort to militarize our nation's cities.
J.B.
Pritzker also appealed to the Republican governor of Texas to stop Trump from mobilizing his state's National Guard to Chicago.
He added in a statement there is no reason a president should send military troops into a sovereign state without their knowledge, consent or cooperation.
Trump on Sunday insisted he push ahead with his strategy.
After the deployment of National Guard troops in Washington DC was credited with contributing to already falling crime rates.
Washington dc went from a hell hole to a safe place.
It took 12 days to solve the problem 12 days and we're going to do that in chicago.
We're going to do that in portland.
That's a bunch of paid insurrectionists, but you have a lot of paid people in chicago too.
Us presidents have the authority to federalize the national guard in specific circumstances, But deploying troops to other states without the consent of their governors has typically been considered a violation of the Constitution.
The Trump administration is also mobilizing National Guard units to Memphis Tennessee, triggering protests over the weekend.
That was Owen Faircloth reporting on the obstacles President Trump faces in his push to deploy troops to Democrat-run cities.
U.S.
President Donald Trump says his administration will impose a 25 tariff on imported medium and heavy-duty trucks starting November 1.
Trump made the announcement on his Truth Social account, writing that all such trucks entering the United States from abroad will face the new tariff rate.
Back on September 25, Trump said a similar 25% tariff on heavy trucks would begin October 1.
He argued the move would protect American truckers and strengthen national security.
However, the tariff was delayed following industry pushback from major US automakers out of concern about supply chain disruptions and cost increases.
France's fifth prime minister in less than two years has resigned.
Sébastien Le Corneau stepped down just hours after facing criticism from political parties over his new cabinet line-up.
President Emmanuel Macron has accepted his resignation.
Sarah Coates reports from Paris on what lies ahead for Macron and France.
Macron really does have some very tough decisions to make.
He has about three options.
We do know that throughout the day he's been meeting with some of his closest advisers, trying to find a way through all of this political drama.
The first option he could do here is appoint a new Prime Minister.
This would likely be a socialist or potentially a technocrat.
But in saying that, all of these prime ministers that he has appointed until now have not worked out.
Now, the second option is he could call a general election.
This would be extremely risky for the president right now, according to the polls.
This would go in the direction of the far right, the national rally.
And this, of course, is something that Macron doesn't want to do.
And we also need to remember there that it was only last summer that Macron actually dissolved the parliament.
And this is how France has got into this mess.
It's because the parliament is just so deeply fragmented that nobody can agree on anything.
And really the third option here is for Macron himself to to step down.
There are many calls from right across really the political spectrum for him to do that, but up until now this is something that he says he simply will not do, saying i'll be staying here for now.
That was Sarah Coates, reporting on the aftermath of the French Prime Minister's resignation.
The price of gold continues to surge on Tuesday.
Spot gold hit a record high of $3,977 per ounce earlier in the session.
Analysts say the growth was driven by investors' safe haven demand after the fall of the Japanese yen and the US government shutdown.
Growing market expectations for additional interest rate cuts from the U.S.
Federal Reserve further fueled the bullish momentum.
Since the start of this year, gold has rallied by over $1,200 per ounce.
Goldman Sachs research forecasts bullion would advance to $4,000 per troy ounce by mid-next year.
The World Bank has raised its economic growth forecast for China in 2025 as part of a broader upgrade for East Asia and the Pacific, following a summer of global uncertainty caused by US tariffs.
The bank now expects China's economy to expand by 4.8% up from the 4% predicted in April.
The revised forecast brings China closer to its official growth target of around 5% for 2025.
Coming up.
China sees a travel surge as the National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holiday is coming to an end.
From north to south, east to west, people in China are chasing their dreams and leaving their mark.
Want to know how they beat the odds and made a difference?
Footprints brings you the true life stories of their journeys.
Now it's 19 minutes past the hour.
It's day 7 of China's National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holiday, and return travel is surging as the week-long break comes to a close.
Domestic travel for family visits and tourism reached one of its busiest levels of the year on Monday.
The Ministry of Transport estimated more than 295 million passenger trips, up nearly 6 from last year.
Railways handled over 16 million passenger trips, with more than 1100 additional train services added to meet demand.
Airlines reported around 2.4 million passenger trips nationwide.
Road travel remained the most popular choice, with an estimated 275 million passenger trips recorded on Monday alone.
The National Day holiday is also one of the busiest times for China's movie industry.
Total box office revenue during the holiday period has surpassed 16 billion yuan roughly 220 million US dollars.
Leading the charts is the historical war epic The Volunteer's Peace at Last, which has dominated ticket sales since its release.
The film portrays both the fierce battles on the front lines and the intense diplomatic efforts during the war to resist US aggression and aid Korea in the 1950s.
Cities across China mark the Mid-Autumn Festival with a variety of intangible cultural heritage events.
Zhang Mengyuan has more.
In Jingshan Village, Zhejiang Province.
Local artisans perform traditional Song Dynasty tea art, known as Diancha, for visitors.
Tea masters vigorously whisk a mixture of water and ground tea leaves with a bamboo brush until it produces a frothy foam, then carefully inscribe mid-autumn motifs onto the surface of the tea.
This tea performance is notably mesmerizing, and the tea offers a delightful flavor.
Here, I got to immerse myself in the millennia-old tea culture of Jingshan.
Meanwhile, Jinshan's renowned mooncakes are drawing numerous visitors.
Our mooncakes are crafted using an ancient filling technique with a history dating back to the Tang and Song dynasties.
In Lushan, Sichuan Province, residents celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival through a 1800-year-old tradition that includes parade performances, drum competitions and other folk customs.
In Zhongshan, Guangdong Province, dragon boat races and intangible cultural heritage performances are held consecutively.
During the day, six dragon boats participate in the parade on the Qijiang River.
As evening approaches, cultural parade performances commence, showcasing the vibrant spirit of the festival's cultural heritage.
That was Zhang Mengyuan reporting.
China Media Group presented global audiences a mid-autumn festival gala, as families gathered to mark the occasion.
The show featured songs celebrating the festival's cool themes of family reunion.
The gala was filmed in Deyang in Sichuan Province.
The southwestern city is home to the Sanxingdui Ruins, one of the most significant archaeological finds of the 20th century.
The gala tours the Sanxingdu Museum to highlight the harmonious blend of tradition and innovation.
The Mid-Autumn Festival is China's second biggest traditional holiday after Chinese New Year.
It falls on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month, when the moon appears at its fullest and brightest in the year.
On this day, families gather, share mooncakes on the full moon and light lanterns to symbolize family unity.
In China's agrarian past, mid-autumn marked the end of the main harvest and the change to cooler weather, making it ideal for giving thanks and celebration.
Ancient Chinese believed that a full moon signifies balance between heaven and earth, abundance and renewal.
In sports at the ATP Shanghai Masters, Chinese wildcard Shang Junchen was eliminated in the third round after a three-set loss to Portugal's Nuno Borges, leaving no Chinese players remaining in the tournament.
Shang described the match as a physical test.
Overall, I would say it was a real physical test.
Playing my first daytime match here challenged me both mentally and physically.
Borges is a very complete and solid player.
No major weakness on either the forehand or backhand side.
I generally prefer slower calls, but today during the day, the ball was travelling a bit faster and floating more.
Those are just the conditions.
Or nor, I think my first serve could have been better today.
In a first encounter, Shang started strong, breaking Borges to lead 4-2 in the first set.
However, Borges fought back and forced a tie break, which he won 7-5 with a fine forehand.
Extreme heat and humidity started to take a toll on Shang and, after missing a game point, he called for a medical timeout.
After the break, Shang regained his focus and a big serve helped him win the second set 6-4.
The third set stayed on the serve until Borges broke to lead 5-3, capitalizing on a long shot from Shang.
Borges sealed the match with an ace, taking the third set 6-3 to advance to the last 16.
Still in tennis, the 2025 Wuhan Open has kicked off.
China's Yuan Yue secured a hard-fought victory in her opening match, edging Italy's Lucia Bronzetti in two tiebreakers sets.
Meanwhile, Wang Xinyu was knocked out by Japan's Uchijima Mayuka in straight sets.
Yuan had previously lost to Bronzetti 6-1-6-1 on Italian clay in 2021.
OpenAI has unveiled its latest generative AI tools to assist developers in building more applications.
This comes after the announcement of its multi-billion dollar deal with major chipmaker AMD, as well as collaborations with Spotify and other companies.
Mark New has more.
OpenAI showed how developers can now build their own apps to operate within the ChatGPT platform.
This software engineer prompts ChatGPT to use the Canva app and within minutes designs posters for their dog walking business and a business plan slide deck.
I can ask ChatGPT, based on our conversations, what would be a good city to expand the dog walking to?
ChatGPT, of course, knows what we've been talking about.
Super enthusiastically, says Pittsburgh.
Now I can invoke the Zillow app to say, Please show me some homes for sale there.
We are seeing them evolve from this simple, you know, sort of chatbot-based interface to really arguably, the beginnings of almost an entire operating system.
OpenAI's new tools can also write code far easier.
This OpenAI engineer uses his voice to talk to an AI assistant who, in minutes, creates code that controls the ceiling cameras and lights.
What do you see on the camera?
I see a large audience in front of you with rows of attendees seated and ready.
The room is well lit and the crowd stretches far back, filling the space.
That's right.
Could you shine the lights towards the audience?
There we go.
I've just lit up the audience with a nice bright watch.
CEO, Sam Alton, shows how, by using their video creation tool Sora, a designer from Mattel, was able to turn his drawing into an AI generated video.
Software used to take months or years to build.
You saw that it can take minutes now to build with ai.
You don't need a huge team, you need a good idea and you can just sort of bring it to reality faster than ever before.
It is a very interesting and strange dichotomy and enigma at the same time.
Here's a tool that you're you're selling to developers that, in essence, helps them make their job go away in theory.
Now look, i think what it means really is you're going to find developers can get more things done, And so you'll see more products, more varieties, more specialization.
On Monday, OpenAI and chipmaker AMD signed a multi-billion dollar deal whereby OpenAI agrees to buy six gigawatts of compute power from data centers that utilize AMD chips.
OpenAI will have the opportunity to buy a 10% stake in AMD.
That's despite OpenAI recently cutting a deal with AMD's chief rival Nvidia, for a 100 billion partnership.
It gives them a more diversified supply chain with both Nvidia and AMD as well, as I'm sure we'll see other players as well.
And it frankly props up the entire semiconductor industry because look, it's great to have somebody as strong and big as NVIDIA, but it's even better when you've got a couple of strong companies.
The deal comes as Amazon founder Jeff Bezos recently referred to AI spending as a bubble, whereby the hype cycle is causing investors to spend billions on both good and bad ideas.
That was Mark New reporting.
Now it's 29 minutes past 8 hour, checking the forecast for the day.
Beijing is cloudy with a low of 12 on Tuesday evening.
Wednesday will see moderate rain with a high of 13.
Nanchang is down to 28 tonight, then sunny and 35.
Elsewhere in Asia, Islamabad is 14 tonight, then light rain and 25.
Vientiane is 24 overnight, then light rain and 31.
Phnom Penh is 25 overnight, then light rain and 31 degrees Celsius.
In Africa, Nairobi will see light rain with a high of 25 on Wednesday, can polarize 19 overnight.
Tomorrow, raining with a high of 25.
Juba is 21 tonight, then light rain and 31.
Finally, to Oceania, Port Vila is 23 this evening.
Tomorrow will have light rain with a high of 27.
Apia will see light rain on Wednesday with a high of 30 degrees Celsius.
That's it for this edition of the Beijing Hour.
In the second half of the program, we take you to a primary school built with Chinese assistance in Botswana and explore how it is providing quality education and changing the lives of children and their families in the African country.
Making news today, Israel and Hamas have held their first day of indirect talks in Egypt on the details of a Gaza ceasefire plan.
On behalf of the staff.
This is Tianlu, in the Chinese capital, hoping you'll join us for the next edition of the Beijing Hour and open the window to the world together.
Listen up.
Can you hear the heartbeat of our world?
It's vibrant and pulsating with the essence of life itself.
From the stem of trees to the gurgle of rivers.
From the silent strength of mountains to the icy whispers of glaciers.
Even the solid ground beneath our feet, Right there in the midst of all, beats the heart of humanity.
What if those other heartbeats were to stop?
Would ours keep on ticking?
Ever wondered what's actually going on in Africa through the perspective of an African?
How are things really going between China and Africa?
What's the narrative of this relationship?
Well, get a perspective with China Africa Talk.
Hear from African diplomats, entrepreneurs, academics, Chinese natives and more.
Get on our wavelength every week to find out what's real with China Africa Talk.
Find us on your favorite podcast.
We'll see you there.
You're listening to China Africa Talk.
Everything China, everything Africa.
Everything China, everything Africa.
Hello and welcome to this special series of China Africa Talk, where we bring you a six episode feature together forward to mark the 25th anniversary of FOCAC, the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation.
I'm Bridget Mutambirwa.
In this special feature, we meet the people at the heart of China-Africa ties, showing how FOCAC's vision is shaping lives and futures.
Opening its doors in 2021.
Mopani Primary School is one of four built with Chinese assistance in Botswana.
Mapula Molapong explores how the school is providing quality education and changing the lives of many children and their families.
Mopane Primary School is one of four primary schools in Botswana built with funding from the Chinese government.
Located just 15 kilometers from the capital Khaburwane, Mopane is a growing village in the Kweneng District.
We explore how this international partnership is reshaping education in Southern Africa.
We begin with the headteacher of Mopane Primary School, Khwizu Maratha, who has led the school since it opened in 2021.
Back then when it opened, normally we open the schools.
We don't have budget for primary schools in Botswana.
We open it at zero balance.
Like zero, zero, zero, zero pula.
So when I came here back then, actually I was deployed here in 2020, December.
I was one of the first few to be deployed and have to come here, see the school, go to Dukosi, introduce myself, you know, converge people at the quota, because the school then was under construction, the contract was still here, so I had to go to the quota and start recruiting the learners for the school.
I did that through VDC mostly then because I knew that I was going to need money.
Back then we started all the proceedings and then I asked the VDC people that I can use their account.
Then, when people were enrolling the learners here, we were making them pay interest like you pay to be enrolled.
We had already set the standard for payment like 100 Pula.
So we recruited using the 100 Pula fees and then we deposited the money to the VDC account, because we didn't have the PTA, we didn't have anyone, I didn't have the teachers and all.
A few teachers came back then.
They were about 10 or so and we had the quota registerings done at once.
At the same time, admitting the transfers in from other schools.
You know, it was hectic, but we managed through this team.
We really managed.
So far, so good.
Fast forward, here we are.
The school is doing so well.
And then teachers coming from different schools as well.
I had to assemble this team.
And then tried to create a culture that will suit our own way of doing things, and it wasn't easy, I must admit.
But ultimately they believed in me and then, you know, everything just fell into place.
And we are doing so, so well as a school.
Here are our results as you can see.
In 2021, we had 643 learners.
And we had our own first 107 classes in 2023.
We had 180 learners.
Those were our first cohorts.
So we did so so well.
That is why you got the certificate and the trophy.
Our learners, the first cohort of 2023.
They were at 644 percent a b.
Remember, the target for the government for primary schools is food, so we've always exceeded 40 percent.
The quality pass yeah, and then they.
ABC was 983.
So they used to call us 100 minus 1.7.
The director used to call us that.
But if you don't want to say Mopana Primary School, you just say 100 minus 1.7.
And then last year, 2024, we had 122 learners.
We were at 58.
We dropped a bit, even ABC.
But even though we dropped, we still maintained our position one in the whole region out of close to 94 schools.
Wow.
Mm-hmm. position one.
And this is only what, five years later?
Four years, because this is the fifth year and they're still maintaining position one.
And you did mention that you had to get enroll new students, because I can imagine your school has got no, it's new.
That is why I was mostly depending on the Kota, the VDC and the councillors to call the villagers, And then the school that they've been waiting for is going to be opened.
Here is the school head.
And everybody obviously wanted to enroll their learners into this beautiful school.
Every day people come here looking for spaces.
So we have the carrying capacity.
But already we have exceeded our carrying capacity by close to 300 learners.
What's the carrying capacity?
650.
We're at 910 now.
So what sort of assistance would you like, either from the Botswana government or the Chinese government?
You know, once the ambassador was here, we talked about this.
They know our challenges.
And then he was actually talking of, will it be possible to build other classrooms?
Yeah.
And then I was like that would be an awesome development, even if they can just find some quarter cabins for us.
Because right now we don't have preschool, but it's a must that every school should have a preschool.
But if you look at the numbers of people who want to enroll their learners, we are already giving us a headache.
Also, just take us through what the school has, the programs that the school offers.
We have, you know, these teachers are so industrious.
Whatever program that comes to light, that is introduced, you know, they always embark on it.
Recently, you know, there's this broadcaster's organization, TBO.
The TBO is about teaching learners skills of presentation, news reading, spelling, Bs, and all.
And my learners, through the teachers, they came out so victorious as well.
We took the best presenter award.
So they are supposed to be going to Lesotho.
And then there is this other Chinese man who comes here to teach our learners maths.
And apart from that, hella.
It's just normal teaching.
As long as my teachers are so committed.
They are very, very, very committed.
They are extraordinary.
In five years I've already promoted to people.
I don't keep people because they are performing.
I want them also to go out there and shine.
When I recommend someone, I do it from my heart.
There's no how I can recommend someone and not that person be taken for whatever purpose that they are playing for.
To truly understand the impact of Mopane Primary School, we spoke to the people closest to it.
Parents teachers students, each offering a glimpse into what meaningful development looks like on the ground.
My name is Larata Olesofi and I'm currently a volunteer teacher here.
On a daily basis, I teach all C-level subjects, all six of them.
I teach Standard 4 now.
I started off in July 2024.
Back then they were in Standard 3, so I had to go with them to Standard 4 as well.
My experience has been really amazing and it has really solidified my passion for teaching, because I took up this project because I wanted to know if I'm really cut out for teaching.
And it has really solidified it.
And I'm willing to get myself more qualifications in teaching so that I can just follow the career of teaching.
My name is Dinelma Fuli.
I work as an admin, but I'm a TSP member.
What is TSP?
TSP, our school grounds.
But there is football, there is basketball, there is netball.
So is there sports during winter?
No sports at all.
No sports at all. normally our students they go to the grounds when when schools are closing when they don't they don't have anything to do in classes that's when they go to this to the ground after school to play once during the week there is a gym from the gym yeah the community for the community yes also you also serve the community yes you also serve the community they use the grounds they use the ground the basketball courts and I am the FRC elect of Mopane Primary School.
I am the president and my goal in this school is to transform it.
I want, as I am the president now, to join Lock Hands with the teachers to reform the school, to build it, to mold it and also help give our students a better future.
So right now I'm still trying, even though some things don't work out.
Sometimes I fail, but I still get up, dust myself and keep going.
So my goal is to mold the school, to keep our reputation very, very high.
So our reputation, our status really, really matters to me.
So most of the time I really think about academics, so me and my members.
The members of the SRC really think about the reputation and the academic results of our school.
Botswana and China have shared diplomatic ties for 50 years.
As a participant in the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation and a signatory of the Belt and Road Initiative, Botswana has seen China invest in key sectors, especially education.
Projects like Mopane Primary School include modern classrooms, state-of-the-art sports facilities and ICT labs, demonstrating how infrastructure can directly support learning.
I welcome you into my class.
This is a standard seven class with a total of 31 learners.
I started with them while they were doing standard five.
It's been three years.
This is the third year with them.
We are sitting for a PSLE. in a few months to come.
I arrived in this school in end of 2022, sorry.
So far so good.
It is a welcoming school.
It is a nice school.
It's a performing school.
Yes, I'm not going to resist saying that.
I've grown a lot in terms of academics and in terms of self-development, of course.
We have a very good leader, our school head.
She will uplift us with all she has.
She takes note of us whenever we do good.
She's there to appraise us.
I'm happy so far.
I've never been in any like this before.
With these kids performing so good, we are sitting at 100%.
So far with an AB of 71%, of which I believe PSLE, we're ready.
Okay, thank you and I thank you for being here in our school, in a beautiful school.
My name is Lilin Elizabeth and I'm in 7 Blue and it's a great class and a really kind class.
So this school has been really good for me and it's very, very, very good.
I really like it because everybody in the school is very kind and they're very honest, and so I really thank the school and the head of the school to take us to this school, this beautiful school and this clean school.
My name is Maestro Ayewa.
I started working here on January 2023.
So LD is just learning difficulties in short.
So in our school, we believe in equality.
So that's why we take these kids especially like others.
So we have different types of learning difficulties.
We have those who can't read.
But when you read for them, they just understand like others.
So in our school, we have what you call scribing.
Scribing, we just read for those students and write for them.
Especially for those bilingual, they don't understand.
Because they can't read for themselves.
So we read for them and then there is someone who writes.
So they can't read and write.
But they write.
They write.
But we just read for them and write for them.
Okay.
Some they are very slow in writing.
Some they can't read at all.
But when you read for them they understand and interpret very well.
So most of these kids, they are very good in mathematics.
So that's why this program. is here in our school.
In short, we just believe in equality.
We take them as equal as others.
So we want to equip them with the same knowledge and skills that we equip with those who are physically stable.
Okay.
So do they also write the PSLE exam?
Yeah, they do write the PSLE exam.
This program of writing for them is also called the PSLE.
Final exams.
Okay.
You're going to be doing the same thing.
We're going to be doing the same thing.
All right.
And they have extra time.
And then from here, where do they go?
Do they still go to the community junior secondary school that others go to?
Do they have the same program?
Yes.
The program just continues.
It continues.
Yes.
And most of these kids, they improve.
When they improve and we can see or know, this child just said, she or he can read for themselves.
The child has... passed and Horaorashu or his father did it for him or herself.
Okay, so they can graduate and become independent?
Yes, they can graduate and become independent.
My name is Mrs. Naohopula and I am a Ph.D. chairperson at Mopane Primary School.
The positive impact that I have seen regarding being funded by the Chinese embassy and the Chinese school of education.
Our kids were really suffering.
They were traveling from Mopani and I would say greater Mopani and Mopani village, to the schools in Khabourone and greater Khabourone.
So it was a big challenging to parents because most of the parents are not working and their children were commuting.
So it was very difficult in terms of funding the children to go to school traveling using those public transports.
So children were arriving late at their homes.
They would leave very early in the morning and arrive very late at their homes.
So it was a bit challenging. and it was really affecting their education.
So this time around, it's really better, and the kids are really appreciating the help.
They're so grateful because there are no travelings, and they arrive at their homes very early.
That's fantastic.
And I'm also a parent.
How many children do you have at Mopane Primary School?
I have two.
You have two?
I have two kids.
I started with the school when it was opening in 2021.
My first child who attended there is one of the first students who completed the PSLE there.
And the other one is doing Synod 55 now, who was the first group of Synod 1s.
Then I also enrolled the third one, who is doing Synod 1.
And then what I'd also like to find out from you is the performance of your children.
Are you happy with that result?
Are you happy with the way the school is teaching your children and school, the whole community?
100%, ma'am.
I am so, so, so, so glad.
The performance of the school is outstanding.
Very excellent.
I don't know how to appreciate this.
I am so grateful.
Yeah.
Yes, the performance.
The teachers are doing a good job there ma'am, and the leadership of the school is also doing very great.
So i i would say almost parents who are with their kids are attending in primary.
They are so grateful.
Let me say we really have complaints of the academics, academic performance.
Most of the parents they come and testify like right now there is a new school that has opened in block five, they still want their kids to go to Mopane Primary.
Before the school was built, many children walked long distances to reach overcrowded classrooms.
But today, things have changed.
And the Chinese government built the school.
So how has the school helped the Mopane community?
You know, if it wasn't for the People's Republic of China, I don't know what would happen to Mopane villagers.
They came in so handy, to be quite honest.
If you look at Mopan, it is one of the fastest growing villages.
I mean, right now, the last census, I'm told it had around 30,000 people.
But we only have two schools.
The other school is in the old Mopan and this one school.
You know, for the Chinese people to build this school, it has really helped the people around.
Because I used to be the deputy school head at Khaleeletham Primary School in Haboroni, too.
And back then I was like, why do we have so many people coming from Bombopani, Misimakabi?
I only got to realize that there are no schools around when I came to Wake and Penny.
So the school came in as a very welcome move, because now the learners don't have to suffer going to Haboroni and then going to Wuhu Gopong for schooling.
Now a lot of them are just schooling around.
The Chinese people just came into him.
Now.
I'll always be grateful for the People's Republic of China, and I always say it.
And the school is like none other.
Facilities, you know, the furniture, everything that is here was provided for.
The utensils in the kitchen, they even bought place for learners, their place.
It's so extraordinary.
The school is beautiful.
And like I'm saying, everybody wants their learners to be here.
They always.
When we have visitors from China, the learners will always tell them that we are so thankful.
They always say thank you so much for building this school because if it wasn't for that, we'll be traveling long distances trying to access schools.
What I know for a fact is every year For prize giving we're given around 40000 to 45000 for prize giving ceremony.
We're given money to run our prize giving to actually praise those who have done well, including support staff, the teachers and the learners.
That is amazing.
And apart from the prize giving, do they still continue to contribute in other ways?
And if they do, what are some of the ways that they contribute in?
They do.
They do.
Like, once in a while, they can just come here and give us the presents, some presents, the toys, the books.
Anytime they can just come here.
But every time they come here, they do bring us something.
We are like partners.
And then there's also the Confucius University in UB.
They also came here and then we did some cultural exchange.
They were like doing their cultural dances and all and the kids loved it.
Yeah.
So the school right now is being run by the Bozona government?
It is run by, but it is called Eterna Aided.
Okay.
And then the embassy is aiding the school.
Okay.
In whatever that we may want.
Yes.
We always tell them our needs and they always attend.
Like when the school was opened, kind of like I said, there were no equipment.
They bought us the first machine that was.
But it was bought by the People's Republic of China through the embassy.
Right now, as we speak, five teachers are going to be given a national award for teachers, including myself.
Five teachers.
Last, we had two teachers.
Congratulations.
Three days ago, we were in loops and bounds.
And even the excellence awards for originally, we do so well also.
Even this time around, we have teachers, two teachers we're going to get.
One of my standard seven teachers is getting the best performing for all the Mahuri Sanyantamaha schools.
Best performing standard seven teacher Mr Banya Tang.
He's also going to get an award for Teacher's Day.
It has been an absolute honor to interview you.
Thank you so much.
It has been an honor having you here.
You are the first people to take this loan.
Normally, they come here two minutes, they go.
Because we're loving it.
You know, we spoke to a lot of people.
The school is beautiful.
There's just warmth in the air as you go through the school.
Thank you so, so much.
Chinese ambassador to Botswana, Fan Yang, said that the four schools donated by China so far have been life-changing for many children.
And he expressed hope that more such programs will help provide quality education.
Mopani Primary School is one of the fourth primary schools that China aided for Botswana in the past few decades.
And we have one in Maun, we have one in Sarowei, We have one in Wampani and we have another one in Kasani Kazunguna, a new school.
As the principal mentioned, that those schools have been sponsored and donated by the Chinese government to the government of Botswana and to the people of Botswana.
I'm very happy to see that all the residents of the schools nearby areas in the schools they like the schools very much and they want us to do more.
I visit some of them.
And all these headteachers, all the principals, the same question they are coming raise the same to me the capacity limit.
Because a lot of people are queuing, are lying in the line of the queue to be in the waiting list to get in the queue application to the school.
And we are trying our best to enlarge the capacity.
And we hope that more and more Botswana kids can enjoy the same facilities like the Mopane, like the Kazungula schools.
Maybe in future we can have some further discussions with your government as well.
This year is the 50th anniversary of our diplomatic relations and it's a time to summarize some good experiences of the past and try to jump over those mistakes that were made in the past.
So we have to work together in joint efforts that we can make a better plan for the future development, for a bright future, for a better future.
It's for our next generation.
And I do hope that 50 years is not enough.
We are looking forward to another 50 years or 100 years.
This partnership reflects China's expanding presence across Africa.
But, more importantly, it highlights how grassroots development projects can empower communities in lasting, meaningful ways.
On the 25th anniversary of FOCAC, the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, CGTN Radio presents a special feature series Together Forward, showcasing the breadth and depth of the China-Africa partnership.
Clean water projects in Zimbabwe.
New classrooms in Botswana.
Grand innovation in Kenya.
Agricultural training in Handan, a vibrant trade in Yiwu and a documentary producer's journey in Hangzhou.
These are the stories that bring this partnership to life.
We have trained a group of high-quality talents in Africa who understand agriculture, love rural areas and care for farmers.
In this world-cleaning program go a long way in addressing this critical need all over the world.
I never see one country like china, especially like you.
So this becomes more productive, cost effective and more freelance.
I have a small dream before turning 45 i want to make 10 china africa's documentaries.
This school is beautiful and, like i'm saying, everybody wants their learners to be.
Join us in celebrating 25 years of FOCAC.
Stay tuned with China-Africa Talk and discover the real impact of China-Africa cooperation and how we're moving forward together.
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