By Meng Fanrong

 

KARACHI, Dec. 2 (Gwadar Pro) - The photo exhibition on the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Pakistan and the celebration of the 8th anniversary of the opening of Confucius Institute, University of Karachi (CIUK) was held on Monday. At the occasion, the split 2+2 BS Chinese program, a joint education program between Sichuan Normal University and University of Karachi was officially launched.

 

As the first university in Pakistan to host the split 2+2 BS Chinese program, University of Karachi will welcome its first batch of undergraduate students majoring in Chinese in 2022. Students participating in the program will study at University of Karachi and Sichuan Normal University for two years respectively. During their study in China, students will receive a scholarship offered by Center for Language Education and Cooperation, and students who meet the graduation requirements will be jointly awarded a bachelor’s degree by the two universities.

 

 

 

Mr. Li Bijian, Chinese Consul General in Karachi praised the remarkable achievements of CIUK over the past eight years, and highlighted that taking the lead in launching the split 2+2 BS Chinese program in Pakistan is a milestone in China-Pakistan educational cooperation, which would greatly enrich the connotation of China-Pakistan relations and contribute to the high-quality development of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

 

Li Bijian highlighted that after 70 years of development, China-Pakistan relations have become a banner of China’s peripheral diplomacy and an outstanding model of relations between countries with different social systems and different histories and cultures. He further encouraged young students of Pakistan to be the main force in promoting people-to-people relations between China and Pakistan, inheriting and deepening the traditional friendship between the two countries, and getting to know today’s modern China and Pakistan. 

 

Prof. Dr. Khalid M. Iraqi, Vice Chancellor, University of Karachi emphasized that China has made world-renowned achievements in the economic field, and Pakistan should learn from China’s experience in economic development. He completely agrees with Confucius Institute’s school-running philosophy and believes that in the era of globalization, mutual learning among civilizations is beneficial to all participants.

 

Prof. Dr. M. Nasiruddin Khan, Pakistani Director, CIUK added that, “COVID-19 vaccines and medical equipment provided by China during the pandemic played a vital role in saving precious lives in Pakistan.”

 

Prof. Zhang Xiaoping, Chinese Director, CIUK explained that CIKU has been committed to Chinese teaching and people-to-people exchanges between China and Pakistan, paying attention to the localization and sustainable development of Chinese teaching.

 

Bank of China Karachi Branch and CIUK have opened a new mode of cooperation between Confucius institutes and enterprises through staff training and joint construction of an internship base. Mr. Wang Jie, President, Bank of China Karachi Branch mentioned that he would continue to firmly contribute to the deepening of China-Pakistan friendship.

 

During the event, students from CIUK sang the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter volunteer-themed song “Love is here”, and Consul General Li Bijian awarded Consul General Scholarship to the outstanding students.