Greek students join Ningbo youth camp on manufacturing and culture

Young people from Greece and 24 other countries and regions spent five days in Ningbo, China, exploring intelligent manufacturing, local heritage and youth exchange. The camp showcased how the city is pairing industrial innovation with cultural openness as participants presented final projects on future-facing cooperation.

Why it matters: - The camp put international students inside Ningbo’s manufacturing ecosystem and cultural sites, giving them a firsthand look at how the city links industrial upgrading with heritage tourism. - The exchange also served as a cross-border youth platform, with participants from five continents discussing technology, culture and shared future cooperation. - The programme reinforces Ningbo’s pitch as a historic port city with global ambitions and a strong role in international education.

What happened: - From Oct. 19 to 23, 2026, 127 young people from 25 countries and regions gathered in Ningbo for a five-day exchange programme. - The participants came from five continents and included students from Greece, Russia, Malaysia, South Korea and France. - The 2026 Ningbo International University Students and International Friendship Cities Youth Exchange Camp was jointly organised by the Ningbo Municipal Education Bureau and the Foreign Affairs Office of the Ningbo Municipal People's Government. - Ningbo Polytechnic University hosted the camp. - The camp opened on the evening of Oct. 19 at the university’s Alliance Building with a multilingual performance of So Many People in This World. - The same song had also been performed at the university’s 2026 freshman opening ceremony by Chinese students and Gabonese international student Nkene Moro Panicia in Chinese, Korean, Spanish and French.

The details: - Participants visited Haitian International’s plant in Beilun, Safewell Group and the Ningbo Industrial Internet Research Institute to see intelligent manufacturing in practice. - The group also toured the Ningbo Urban Exhibition Hall, Xiushui Street, Tianyi Pavilion Museum and the Ningbo Museum of World Heritage Irrigation Structures. - Activities included making huijituan, a Ningbo rice cake listed as intangible cultural heritage, and taking part in dam-model experiments. - Anna Melitskova of Russia said the visit showed her Chinese intelligent manufacturing firsthand. - Melitskova said the automated production lines at Haitian International’s Beilun plant stood out, describing robotic arms working with real-time data. - Hammad Alyna Mohd Khairrui of Malaysia said the visits showed how technological innovation is driving industrial transformation. - Khairrui said intelligent manufacturing can make production more efficient, greener and more sustainable. - During the huijituan activity on Oct. 20, participants initially struggled to shape the cakes. - Local instructors guided participants through kneading, pinching and rolling the dough until the cakes took shape. - Participants tasted the steamed cakes, took photos and described the snack as a glimpse into everyday life in the Jiangnan region of eastern China. - Nina Doka of Greece said Ningbo showed how a city can connect tradition with the future. - Doka said Tianyi Pavilion showed her the depth of a library spanning ancient and modern times, while the Ningbo Industrial Internet Research Institute reflected forward-looking energy. - Kwon Huijin of South Korea said Xiushui Street and the huijituan activity gave her a closer understanding of Ningbo. - Huijin said she planned to share the stories with more friends back home.

Between the lines: - The camp blended industrial visits with cultural activities to move the experience beyond tourism and into soft-power exchange. - The format also let participants frame China’s modernization through direct observation rather than classroom-style instruction. - The mix of youth dialogue and site visits suggests Ningbo is using international education to build long-term relationships with future professionals and civic leaders.

What’s next: - At the closing ceremony on Oct. 23, participants presented projects under the theme “Intelligent Manufacturing for the Future.” - Participants from Greece and Poland showed a video titled In Ningbo, documenting visits to advanced manufacturing facilities and cultural landmarks. - Five participants from Russia delivered a TED-style presentation titled China & Russia: Shared Heritage, Industrial Innovation, Global Friendship. - Participants from South Korea, France, Malaysia and China presented Intelligent Ningbo, Shared Future, combining footage of industrial visits, cultural activities and international collaboration. - The camp’s organisers said the programme continues the mission that began in 2009: youth dialogue, cultural exchange and friendship across borders. - The broader aim is to give international youth firsthand insight into China’s modernization and Ningbo’s industrial strength, cultural heritage and global outlook.

The bottom line: - Ningbo used the camp to show that manufacturing, heritage and international exchange can reinforce one another, not compete. - Ningbo Polytechnic University described itself as a Zhejiang Province university with distinctive strengths in international education and said it has been recognized among China’s Top 50 Higher Vocational Colleges for International Influence for consecutive years. It has also received the Award of Excellence twice from the World Federation of Colleges and Polytechnics.