Majority of quiz takers aware of China-built railroad in Kenya: survey
2018-09-07 09:05:35
Some 4,100 overseas followers of the Twitter account of People's Daily participated in the survey and answered three questions.
The railroad connecting Nairobi, the country's capital, and Mombasa, the largest port in East Africa, started operations on May 31, 2017. Dwarfing the single 100-year-old narrow-gauge railway in capacity and safety, the railway reduces logistical costs by at least 40 percent.
Since the start of its construction, the railway has driven Kenya's GDP growth by about 1.5 percent a year and created 46,000 direct or indirect jobs. China has cultivated 1,600 railway professional technicians in Kenya, and over 100 Kenyan students are now majoring in railway studies at Chinese universities.
"People's recognition of the railway proves our Belt and Road initiative has been successfully conveyed to the overseas audience," said Chen Yiming, director of the Overseas Social Media Center of People's Daily Online.
"They are familiar and happy with our key projects in the Belt and Road initiative which benefits the local economy," Chen said.
The question most people tried to answer was, "In the 15th century, China was gifted a native African animal that was believed to be the mythical qilin, an auspicious creature in Chinese culture. Do you know what the animal was? " Thirty percent got the right answer: giraffe.
The last question was about a "square-hole round cash coin" that circulated throughout China since the Qin Dynasty (221BC - 206BC). One coin of this shape, believed to belong to the Yongle reign of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), was discovered in Kenya. Yongle coins have been found in waters off Dongsha and Xisha islands and areas surrounding the Indian Ocean.