To implement the modernization characterized by six features and the partnership action for people-to-people exchanges proposed by President Xi Jinping at the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, and to promote cultural and artistic exchanges among young people from China and Africa, the Beijing People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries plans to jointly host the “Colourful World” China-Africa Youth Painting Invitational Exhibition and the “Youth Aspirations” Beijing Youth Art Biennale with relevant organizers under the framework of the “China-Africa Year of People-to-People Exchanges.” 

The application rules are as follows:

(I) Guided 

The Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries

(II) Hosted 

Beijing People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries

Beijing Municipal Committee of the Communist Youth League

Information Office of Beijing Municipality

Beijing Federation of Literary and Art Circles

(III) Co-organized 

Foreign and Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of Beijing Municipal People’s Government

Center for Cultural Communication of China International Communications Group

Chinese Headline New Media

(IV) Supporting Organizations

Foreign Affairs Offices of all districts in Beijing

(V) Undertaken 

Beijing Youth Art Development Promotion Association

Beijing Gehua Cultural Development Group Co., Ltd.

(VI) Media Partners

CRI Online, Beijing Daily, Beijing Radio & Television Station, Beijing Youth Daily, International Web Portal of Beijing, etc.

Building the Dream of China-Africa Modernization Together

A call for painting submissions will be launched. Young people are encouraged to give full play to their imagination and create works centering on China and Africa jointly advancing the modernization characterized by six features and implementing the ten partnership actions.

An offline exhibition and award ceremony will be held. Selected award-winning works will be exhibited at the China Millennium Monument, and winning representatives, leaders of the organizers, ambassadors to China, artists, and Chinese and international media will be invited to attend the award ceremony. Friendship organizations and overseas Chinese communities abroad are encouraged to organize country-specific exhibitions locally.

Open to young people from China and Africa aged 7 to 45, divided into three groups: 

Children’s Group (7-12), 

Teen Group (13-18), 

andYouth Group (19-45).

Event launch: May 2026

Painting submission period: May to July 5th 2026

Evaluation: Early July 2026

Award ceremony and offline exhibition: Mid-August 2026

(I) Content

Closely aligned with the “China-Africa Year of People-to-People Exchanges” and the theme “Building the Dream of China-Africa Modernization Together,” works should promote the traditional friendship between China and Africa, strengthen mutual learning among different civilizations, highlight the joint advancement of the modernization characterized by six features, the implementation of the ten partnership actions, and related themes.

(II) Categories

1. Children’s Group and Teen Group: Watercolor painting, oil painting, crayon drawing, ink painting, printmaking, and other forms without restriction.

2. Youth Group: Chinese painting, oil painting, printmaking, sculpture, murals, photography, installation, mixed media, digital art, and more.

(III) Size

1. Children’s Group and Teen Group: Uniformly quarto size (389 mm × 546 mm).

2. Youth Group: Works must be within 1.8 m × 1.8 m (Chinese paintings within one full 6-chi sheet); sculptures must occupy no more than 2 cubic meters; video works must be no longer than 20 minutes and submitted in MP4 format.

(IV) Mounting and Framing

Children’s Group and Teen Group works do not need to be mounted. Shortlisted Youth Group works shall be framed by the artists themselves according to their artistic style.

1. Participants shall complete the artwork information as required (please scan the QR code). The digital image should fully present the overall composition and details of the work and reflect its original appearance. Files must be in JPG/JPEG format, 300 dpi, 2-5 MB. Each artist may submit only one work or one set of works.

2.Works will be collected by the Beijing Youth Art Development Promotion Association. Shortlisted participants will be notified to mail the original works, with detailed requirements to be announced separately. Non-shortlisted participants will not be notified individually. Participants are responsible for ensuring the safety of their works during transport and for the round-trip mailing costs. If any damage occurs during transport, the Organizing Committee will assist in handling the matter.

3. Original works in the Youth Group will be returned after the exhibition.

1. The Organizing Committee owns the copyright to submitted works and may use them for public-interest purposes such as exhibition, publicity, and publication; authors retain the right of attribution.

2. Participants must ensure that their works are original and have not been published in any other exhibition or competition. Highly imitative, plagiarized, copied, or AI-generated works are strictly prohibited. Any plagiarism detected will result in immediate disqualification.

3. Participants must ensure that their works do not infringe upon any third-party rights or interests, including copyright, portrait rights, reputation rights, privacy rights, and other lawful rights and interests, and do not contain controversial content involving territorial disputes, racial discrimination, or similar issues.

(I) Evaluation Requirements

1. Evaluation principles: fairness, impartiality, and objectivity, with full consideration given to the artistic characteristics and cultural backgrounds of China and African countries.

2. Scoring criteria: Works will be evaluated comprehensively based on theme relevance, artistic expression, technical execution, creativity, and related aspects.

(II) Evaluation Process

An Expert Review Committee and a Final Review Committee of the Organizing Committee will be established. The Expert Review Committee will invite specialists from the Beijing Artists Association, the Beijing Youth Art Development Promotion Association, and the Central Academy of Fine Arts; the Final Review Committee will consist of the heads of the responsible departments of the organizers.

(I) Youth Awards

Chinese and African participants will be evaluated separately. Each group, namely Children’s Group (7-12), Teen Group (13-18), and Youth Group (19-45), will have a number of First, Second, and Third Prizes, with the exact number determined by the quality and quantity of submitted works. All other participants will receive the Excellence Award and an electronic certificate issued by the Organizing Committee.

(II) Organization Awards

These awards will be presented to cities, friendship organizations, overseas Chinese organizations, schools, art institutions, and others that have made active efforts to widely mobilize and carefully organize young people to participate.

Offline platform: Selected award-winning works will be exhibited at the China Millennium Monument.

Online platforms: Special columns will be set up on Xuexi Qiangguo, the Beijing Municipal Government Portal Website, and Chinese Headline New Media for ongoing publicity and coverage; the official WeChat accounts of the hosts and undertakers will publish event notices, event reports, and award information.