On the wall of Zuinder Cumandala Manico's bedroom in Shenzhen, there is a picture of his favorite movie star, Bruce Lee. Manico's first, and for a long time only, exposure to China was through the movies Lee acted in. Manico was deeply impressed by Lee's kungfu acts, but never thought he would have the chance to visit and study in Lee's country one day.

The 30-year-old came to China not to pick up kungfu moves but to do his bit towards Angola's development. "After around 30 years of civil war, we had a lot of problems in infrastructure," said Manico. "China invested a lot in infrastructure construction in Angolawith what I have learnt here, I hope to make a contribution after I go back."

Manico chose a three-year master's degree program in urban planning and management at Shenzhen Graduate School of Harbin Institute of Technology. He decided to develop certain mobile phone applications that might be useful to farmers in Angola as part of a school project.

"Lots of farmers often end up having unsold stock as they do not know where and when to sell," said Manico. With the application he designed, farmers can post relevant information about their agricultural products, such as price and quantity, on the website. Buyers can check the prices and order directly from the farmer. The application will also include information published by government agriculture department.

Angola has about 57.4 million hectares of farm land and 5 million hectares of arable land. Main products include coffee, tobacco, cassava, maize, beans and potatoes. According to the United Nation's Food & Agriculture Organization, palm oil was the country's highest-earning agricultural export in 2010.

"I develop the apps on the basis of the real situation I see in Angola," said Manico. "So I believe our application has huge market potential." His start-up company Facemundi Ltd has been registered both in Angola and Hong Kong.

"We need technology to maintain the sustainability of our economy and the technological cooperation between China and Angola come in the right time," said Manico. He believes China could help Angola to develop technology in a big way.

He believes China's technology professionals can help train more Angolan young people. Manico was given a full scholarship by the Chinese government. He hopes more students will receive such support in the future.

Manico plans to do a PhD in sociology after graduating. But more importantly he will be looking to secure venture capital to invest in his start-up so that the application he has developed can be available in the market as soon as possible.

Zuindar Cumandala Manico, an Angolan student in China, has used his time here to develop apps to help farmers in his home country. Provided to China Daily

(HK Edition 11/12/2015 page3)