he management of the country`s largest distance learning educational institution, the Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU) and the Beijing Institute of Graphic Communication (BIGC) will together be establishing a Confucius Centre at AIOU at which Chinese will be taught.
A letter of intent was signed between AIOU Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Shahid Siddiqui and BIGC President Xueke Lou and the BIGC expressed willingness to provide the necessary funding, teaching facilities and study material for the centre.
Minister of State for Education and Professional Training Balighur Rehman, who was present on the occasion, lauded the initiative of setting up a centre for learning Chinese to meet the growing demand for the Chinese language in the country, especially after the operation of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
The minister said that AIOU has the potential to make the centre a success as it has access to every corner of the country.
Dr Siddiqui said a branch of the centre will also be opened at Gwadar to provide linguistic support to Pakistani workers involved in CPEC.
The members of the Chinese delegation who participated in the ceremony include BIGC`s Prof Sheru Zhang, Executive official Zhou Yan and Dr Sajjad Khurshid, a Beijing based focal person for the project.
