For Durban students weighing their futures, a university anniversary in China offered more than ceremony. It pointed to skills with direct bearing on their prospects at home: training in mushroom production, exposure to agricultural research already active in KwaZulu-Natal, and a partnership its organisers say is aimed squarely at youth development, employment and poverty reduction.
A 14-member South African delegation, including 10 Durban University of Technology students studying Mandarin, attended the 90th anniversary conference of Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University (FAFU), held in Fuzhou on October 20. The group travelled under the 2026 Chinese Bridge Winter Camp and was led by Frank Lin Wu, director of the DUT Confucius Institute, which was established through an agreement between DUT and FAFU in 2013 and formally began operating in 2014.
Wu told the conference that the students’ involvement was “not merely a ceremonial or protocol appearance”. In his view, the partnership has moved well beyond language teaching and cultural exchange into vocational training, agricultural technology, research and entrepreneurship. “South African students can gain employable skills through joint training and ‘Chinese + skills’ programmes,” he said.
The practical payoff is already visible in KwaZulu-Natal. Juncao technology, which uses specially cultivated grasses for mushroom production, livestock feed and environmental protection, has been introduced there through cooperation between Chinese researchers and the provincial agriculture department. Wu said DUT students who took part in mushroom production training during 2026 have expressed interest in using those skills to start businesses.
The connection runs back two decades. In 2003, the late Zulu monarch, King Goodwill Zwelithini, visited the Juncao research institute. In 2005, Professor Lin Zhanxi and his team began working with the provincial department on projects involving mushroom cultivation and dryland rice production. During the anniversary visit, the DUT students toured FAFU’s National Engineering Research Centre of Juncao Technology, where they met Lin, the scientist who developed the technique.
Meanwhile, the anniversary conference itself, focused on high-quality development, drew university leaders, academics, researchers, students and representatives of international partner institutions. FAFU president Xie Suyuan presented a report on the institution’s contribution to agricultural education, scientific innovation and rural development over nine decades. The university traces its origins to agricultural education programmes established in 1936; the present institution was formed in 2000 through the merger of Fujian Agricultural University and Fujian Forestry College.
According to the anniversary report, the university has trained approximately 350,000 people and developed 20 nationally leading technologies in specialised agricultural and forestry fields, including advances in mushroom cultivation, ratoon rice and forestry. That research targets improved agricultural productivity, food security and support for rural communities, concerns that resonate with the challenges facing farmers in KwaZulu-Natal.
Fujian vice-governor Jiang Erxiong highlighted the university’s role in training agricultural specialists and advancing scientific research. She called for greater efforts to develop highly skilled professionals, improve agricultural and forestry education, and strengthen research capable of solving practical problems farmers face.
International cooperation featured prominently. Heather Bruce, representing Canada’s Dalhousie University, reflected on more than two decades of cooperation with FAFU, spanning joint academic programmes, research partnerships and student exchanges. Those initiatives had, she said, “deepened the mutual understanding and friendship between faculty and students of our two universities”.
For the South African side, the relationship has produced tangible educational pathways. The Confucius Institute has recommended students for Chinese Government Scholarships and university scholarships to pursue undergraduate and master’s degrees at FAFU and other Chinese institutions. A joint PhD training model, with supervision from both universities, has also been introduced.
Looking ahead, Wu said the two universities could build on existing cooperation through further research into livestock feed, mushroom processing and environmental rehabilitation. The institute has proposed a China-Africa joint laboratory in areas such as agricultural engineering, food science and forestry, which Wu said could open opportunities for research collaboration, postgraduate training and practical solutions for KwaZulu-Natal’s agricultural sector. Vocational education, green development and entrepreneurship are also on the table. In 2023, the institute launched a China-South Africa Juncao Demonstration Centre project aimed at linking agricultural skills training with community development and poverty reduction.
The winter camp’s opening ceremony on October 18 set the tone for the visit. Wu urged the students to consider how their experiences in China could feed into their studies and future careers. “Think about what you are learning here, not only the language,” he told them, encouraging them to pay attention to the people they met, how those people worked, and what knowledge or skills they could carry back to South Africa.