Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.

——Premier Wen Jiabao Talks with Trainees of Huawei Training Center in Egypt

It's the afternoon of November 6, 2009 in Cairo. Along the Nile River, the autumn sun glowed especially softly and date palm trees stretched arms enthusiastically. After almost 11 hours of long-distance flight, Premier Wen Jiabao set foot on the African soil for the 3rd time since 7 years ago. Each time he was moved by the honest and strong African people and felt at home. He will never forget the all-weather affectionate brotherhood between China and Africa and the cooperation between Chinese enterprises and Africa and the benefit of such partnership to the African people are always on his mind.

At 16:45 local time, Huawei East and North Africa training center located at the Smart Village of Cairo was immersed in a joyous atmosphere: red flowers, pure aboriginal songs and dances, sincere smiling faces and warm applauses. The African trainees in the center expressed welcome and gratitude in the simplest yet warmest way to the Chinese Premier who had traveled thousands of miles to Africa.

After ten years of cooperation and hard work, Huawei today has taken root deeply in the soil of Africa and become a major driving force for the development of telecommunications in African countries. In the exhibition hall of this blue glass building, pictures vividly displayed the journey of Huawei's growth in Africa. Seeing photos that some African farmers talk on their telephones newly installed with Huawei's help and Huawei donates money to the local communities, Wen said happily that "what you have done is very meaningful and you are growing together with Africa!"

This new training center which was just put into use in October this year is expanded to an area of 2,000 square meters and another US$20 million has been spent on new training equipments there. Huawei has six training centers throughout Africa and has trained over 12,000 Africans from different countries who shoulder the heavy responsibility of promoting the development of local telecommunications.

Without constraint or formalities, trainees from Africa and the Middle East countries sat down together with Premier Wen in the conference room of Huawei. They chatted happily and with relaxation, just like family members.

A young Egyptian women trainee spoke first. Before receiving training here, she once visited the headquarters of Huawei in Shenzhen, China. The training and visit broadened her horizon and helped increase her technological knowhow.

Wen listened carefully while thinking deeply. He said that training is very important. The quality of employees decides the fate of a company, just as the future of a country depends on the quality of its people. Enterprises with foresight should give top priority to training.

Knowing Premier Wen agreed upon her comment, the Egyptian girl clapped her hands and laughed. She extended warm welcome to Premier Wen to visit Egypt again in the future.

Wen said with smile, "I will. There is an Egyptian proverb that once you drink water from the Nile River you have a passion to drink once again. You are welcomed to China as well."

Moussa from Senegal is a young man with a darkened face and bright piercing eyes. He said that Huawei's trainers are excellent and inexpensive high-quality telecommunications equipments are very popular among the people. Chinese enterprises enjoy sound reputation in Africa. To conclude his talks, he extended welcome to Premier Wen to visit Senegal. All the participants were amused by his solemn and sincere expression.

"Thank you for your invitation," Wen answered earnestly, "information technology advances rapidly. I hope the Chinese enterprises not only observe local laws, operate credibly and have sound management but also disseminate their advanced technologies and experience to the local enterprises and employees. We always say that give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime. Do you agree with me?"

Moussa who originally made the remarks in English nodded and answered Yes in Mandarin.

Thanks to his fluent Mandarin Ahmed from Iraq was praised by Premier Wen immediately after he spoke. Encouraged by the Premier, Ahmed expressed his wish that more Chinese enterprises will do business in Iraq after the Iraqi situation gets stabilized and that he will have more opportunities to receive training in China.

Wen told Ahmed firmly that like him he also expects peace and stability in Iraq as soon as possible. "You receive training here and are all brothers and sisters regardless of national boundaries, nations, religions or ideologies. Your wish will definitely come true," Wen said.

More than half an hour passed unknowingly. Cheers and laughter in the room embodied Premier Wen's deep friendship with the African people.

"Let trainees of other training centers speak a few words," Wen suggested. He then exchanged views with trainees in South Africa, West Africa and East Africa via video.

As the South Africa training center appeared on the video, several employees there were attending the training on routers. Charles, a strong man, stood up and said hello to Premier Wen in fluent mandarin. He introduced his classmates from South Africa, Mozambique and Zambia to the Premier.

In front of the video, Wen recalled agreeably his visit to South Africa 3 years ago. "I still remember the South African leader told me 'you come back home' during that visit. I was deeply moved and responded with a sentence of poem that I came to see African brothers across rivers and mountains. Now our partnership has gone beyond person-to-person exchanges to substantial cooperation and technological exchange. I hope the South Africa training center will grow more and more successful," he said.

The picture was then switched to the Nigeria and West Africa training center. A female trainer introduced herself in fluent mandarin. She said with special emphasis that her Chinese name is Mulan. Premier Wen responded with smile, "I remember your name Mulan who is an ancient Chinese heroine". The humorous trainer immediately said that "the ancient Chinese heroine is the first Mulan and I'm the second." The participants burst into laughter.

Mulan told the Premier that more than 5,000 people had received training in the West Africa training center over the years. She was once trained in Huawei's headquarters in Shenzhen and hopes to teach her African compatriots the technical knowhow she has learned from the headquarters.

Wen said emotionally, "this actually reflects a major shift of focus of China-Africa cooperation to human resources training. The hardworking and intelligent African people are fully capable of learning modern technologies and developing their continent."

Wen continued that Chinese enterprises should depend on their own hard work and more importantly the efforts of local staffs in order to grow in Africa. Only when the quality of employees is improved, can their business operation and profitability be enhanced.

A trainee in the Kenya and East Africa training center told Premier Wen via video that the 2,500 trainees of the center have all become backbones of the local telecommunications industry.

Wen said in earnest, "the application of 3G, sensors and Internet has moved the information industry to a new development stage. I hope new technologies including information technology develop rapidly in Africa so that the African continent which enjoys abundant resources will take on a new look."

In the eyes of the Premier, training of African employees is extremely important. He particularly enjoined the executives of Huawei that training should help promote the long-term friendly cooperation between China and Africa while stimulating their business growth. Such training benefits trainers as well as trainees. The former teaches technology and at the same time learns from the local people, which will strengthen friendship between their company and the local communities. "I will be glad to see Chinese enterprises make due contributions to the development of Africa," said Premier Wen.

The conference room resounded with waves of warm applauses and cheers.

The dusk was gathering and evening lights were lit. During the more than one hour of talks, each of the participants was immersed in the intense affection. As the conversation approached the end, trainees from various countries gathered at the door, saying goodbye to Premier Wen, with great reluctance.