Chinese delegation led by Ambassador Jiang Zaidong visits KU, close ties discussed

Karachi: A Chinese delegation led by Chinese Ambassador in Pakistan Jiang Zaidong visited the University of Karachi.

The delegation consisted of acting Consul General in Karachi Zhang Hao along with the minister counselor, attachés, and counselors of the embassy and consuls of the consulate in Karachi.

They met the KU Vice Chancellor Professor Dr Khalid Mahmood Iraqi, and the Pakistani Director of the Confucius Institute at KU Professor Dr Muhammad Nasiruddin Khan, and others.

KU VC Prof. Dr Khalid Iraqi informed the visitors that we feel proud that we have a solid friend, China, who always supported Pakistan at international forums.

He hoped that the visit of the Chinese delegation and especially the Chinese Ambassador Jiang Zaidong would help strengthen “our relationship at the institutional and global levels.”

He shared that the KU has a very strong connection with the Sichuan Normal University of China and as a good partner, they have supported a lot in running the CI on the campus.

He mentioned that the Chinese and Pakistani directors of the CI have played an important role in enhancing the facilities and standards at the KU’s CI.

He expressed that the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is a way forward for the economic development and prosperity of the people of Pakistan as this project is one of the most important projects in terms of economic growth and economic development of Pakistan.

He said, “I have committed that on the one front, we talk about the security aspects. But on the other front, at the university level, we have committed to creating a public opinion in support of the CPEC, which is a very important factor.”

Chinese Ambassador Jiang Zaidong appreciated the KU VC Professor Dr Khalid Iraqi opinion about the China-Pakistan relations and the CPEC development.

He said that Dr Iraqi has made a very comprehensive elaboration about our bilateral cooperation and relations and our international relations.

Jiang Zaidong expressed that the KU VC Professor Dr Khalid Iraqi and the CI’s Pakistani Director Professor Dr Nasiruddin Khan have made a great contribution to the development of the Confucius Institute on the campus.

He expressed that the University of Karachi is such a large university with around 50,000 students which is not very common in many countries as well as also not common in Pakistan.

He added that in China, we always say that we should count on education and talent to build up a strong country. So the cultivator of talents needs to be supported by education. “I think the University of Karachi will play a very indispensable role in promoting Pakistan’s national development. After I came to Pakistan, I noticed that the IT industry of Pakistan has developed very rapidly and Pakistan’s IT talent is world famous.”

Jiang Zaidong acknowledged that Pakistanis have started their business and entrepreneurship not only in their homeland, but their footprint has been covered around the globe, and he thinks that they cannot live without the education and cultivation of education institutions like the University of Karachi.

He shared that the cooperation between China and Pakistan has been very successful and promoting the education sector is the most important element in it.

He expressed that the Chinese government would like to provide further support for the University of Karachi’s development because China and Pakistan are all very strategic partners and our bilateral cooperation has covered all the aspects.

Jiang Zaidong said that we think education should be one of the focuses. During Pakistani Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif’s visit to China, both sides reached an important consensus on further enhancing our education cooperation, and we have prepared to take several further specific measures, including to help Pakistan to cultivate talent in IT and AI sectors. We would also like to help to train thousands of Pakistanis in the agricultural sector.

He informed the KU administration that we think to provide more scholarships to the Pakistani students as they are at the top rank, and would like to allocate more scholarships to the University of Karachi.

Speaking of the Confucius Institute, he thinks it is also one of the highlights of China-Pakistan cooperation.

He mentioned that as he used to also work in other countries, he thinks the number of CIs in Pakistan is the highest, and the CIs in Pakistan are constructed the best. After experiencing that very unfortunate terrorist attack in 2022, the KU administration and the Pakistani Director of the Confucius Institute, and all the faculty members and teachers showed their commitment and continued the development of the Confucius Institute and have made a lot of efforts in this regard.

“According to my knowledge, you have operated this CI very well, and I would like to express my sincere gratitude. I think the importance and the significance of the CI lies in it is not only an important platform for our bilateral all-weather strategic cooperation, but also it is an important platform for practicing the Global Civilization Initiative. And we know that President Xi Jinping has proposed the GCI, and its purpose is to enhance the mutual exchange and the mutual learning between the different civilizations.”

Jiang Zaidong said that we should learn and appreciate each other’s precious civilization and to further enhance the people-to-people exchanges and mutual understanding and to advance the development of different civilizations, we must share it together. We know that language is what takes civilization to spread as it is the bridge between the different civilizations.

He said that to build the CI well is not only to carry forward language learning but also to enhance the communications between civilizations, between Chinese civilization and Islamic civilization.

“The high-level leaders of our two countries have reached a consensus on building up an upgraded version of the CPEC, and we believe that under the leadership of the two countries, two country leaders, and also with the joint efforts from our two sides, we will continue to advance the development of the CPEC and to make a greater contribution to Pakistan’s national development.”

He expressed that the CPEC construction requires support from the government, military, and all sectors of society from our two countries, especially the education sector in Pakistan. We are fully confident that we can overcome the difficulties and build the CPEC well.

The Chinese Ambassador Jiang Zaidong shared that we highly look forward to further enhancing the security work so that we can enable the Chinese teachers and faculty members to return to Pakistan and teach at venue in Confucius Institute in the future.

Later, the Chinese delegation visited the KU Chinese Teachers Memorial Auditorium and the KU’s CI. The Pakistani Director of the Confucius Institute at KU Professor Dr Muhammad Nasiruddin Khan expressed that the KU’s CI is committed to promoting the Chinese language and culture in Pakistan and playing its part in further strengthening the Pak-China friendship. He shared that today’s visit was a great encouragement and motivation for all of us.

He briefed the delegation that the KU’s CI was established in 2013 after the memorandum of understanding was signed in May 2013, and it is offering four year (2+2) BS Chinese split program, certificate courses from HSK1 to HSK5 in morning, afternoon and weekend programs and also offering Business Chinese classes from BCT1, BCT2, young Chinese classes, two-years Chinese as the subsidiary courses at different departments, teachers training Chinese, conducting Chinese language test.

He mentioned that 2, 465 is the current enrolment at teaching sites, 492 students are enrolled in HSK (1-4) levels, 74 students in a 2+2 split degree program with eight local Chinese language teachers, and 10 native Chinese language teachers online.

After the incident in 2022, classes of all levels were resumed at the UK’s CI and all its teaching sites just after one month using a hybrid model, and various cultural activities were also started successfully, he added.