On December 16th, an unveiling ceremony of the first Confucius Institute in Palestine was held at the Abu Dis campus of Al-Quds University. Dozens of Chinese and Pakistani officials and students attended the ceremony.
Founded in 1984 and located in the area under the control of the Palestinian Authority in East Jerusalem, Al-Quds University worked with Jiangxi Normal University to running this Institute, which has admitted nearly 100 students at present.
Imad Abu Kishek, President of Al-Quds University, said at the opening ceremony that Chinese civilization, one of those enjoying the longest history has made outstanding contributions to the whole world and even the whole mankind in many fields. Thus it is honored to be the first Palestinian university to establish a Confucius Institute. He hoped that Palestinian students and researchers can not only carry out academic research and cultural exchanges, but also learn from China's development experience by studying here.
Fadi al-Hadami, Representative to Prime Minister of the State of Palestine, said that the Confucius Institute would provide a creative learning environment for Palestinian young people, and also connect the two countries more closely on the basis of a friendly history.
Wang Xi, Chargé d' Affaires of Office of the People's Republic of China to the State of Palestine, said that the Confucius Institute plays a positive role in promoting Chinese teaching. At present, Confucius Institutes have spread over 162 countries (regions) in the world, and the total number of teaching institutions has exceeded 550.
Mei Guoping, President of Jiangxi Normal University, expressed his hope that through the bridge of the Confucius Institute, two universities’ cooperation would gradually expand to science, engineering, management, art and other fields, and that the two peoples could learn more about each other's language and culture.
It is reported that Jiangxi Normal University is going to run Arabic major, which aims to strengthen the future personnel exchanges between the two sides.
At the ceremony, teachers and students also performed various traditional programs such as Chinese song singing, Kung Fu show and poetry recitation. (cited from Confucius Institute Headquarters, source: Xinhua News Agency, Story by Chen Lin)
