The 9th NEAR Youth Art Contest, organized by the Secretariat of the Association of North East Asia Regional Governments (NEAR), raised the curtain recently. Ningxia Foreign Affairs Office and Ningxia Education Department recommended 42 paintings by students from Ningxia’s 14 high schools including Ningxia Special Education School, Shizuishan Guangming High School, Guyuan No.8 High School and Zhongwei No.3 High School to the contest.

The paintings submitted are themed with “Northeast Asian Countries I Want to Travel to After COVID-19”. The paintings, created with ingenuity and of varied styles, depict the Northeast Asian countries they want to visit when the pandemic is over, showcasing their artistic taste, confidence in defeating the virus and aspiration for a better future.

The NEAR Youth Art Contest are regularly held by the NEAR Secretariat to promote youth exchanges among Northeast Asian countries. As a member of NEAR, Ningxia has submitted works to the contest for four consecutive years. Ningxia’s youth have presented their hometown and dreams to the world and made new friends through their artworks. The contest has not only broadened the horizon for Ningxia’s participants, but also intensified the people-to-people exchanges among Ningxia and other NEAR members, thus contributing to the friendly exchanges and pragmatic cooperation between China and other Northeast Asian countries.