On January 20, local time, the issuing ceremony of stamps celebrating the Chinese Lunar Year of the Rat was held at the Republican Confucius Institute of Sinology at Belarusian State University.
The event was attended by Kanstantsin Shulhan, Minister of Communication and Information of the Republic of Belarus, Irina A. Starovoitova, First Deputy Minister of Education of the Republic of Belarus, Andrei Dapkiunas, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Belarus, Medvedev Dmitry Georgievich, First Vice-rector of the Belarusian State University, Nina Ivanova, Chairperson of the Belarusian Society of Friendship and Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries, Anatoly Tozik, Director of the Confucius Institute at Belarusian State University as well as Cui Qiming, Chinese Ambassador to the Republic of Belarus. They were also invited to attach special stamps onto the envelopes during the ceremony.
Stamps celebrating the year of rat unveiled
This set of stamps is the first in the “oriental calendar” series of stamps issued by the Ministry of Communication and Information of the Republic of Belarus. It consists of an artistic stamp, an envelope and a special postmark. With “2020” and “Belarus" marked on the top and “Year of the Rat" in Chinese and Belarusian marked on the bottom right, the stamp shows a rat holding a golden reed. There is a red plum blossom at the center of the special postmark, and a red lantern bearing the inscription “Year of the Rat” hung below.
Anatoly Tozik was delivering a speech
Anatoly Tozik said since the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and Belarus 28 years ago, the two countries have witnessed steady development of cooperation in many fields as well as profound friendship and mutual trust between the two governments and peoples. It is also to celebrate the 28th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties that stamps for the Year of the Rat are unveiled. Meanwhile, official documents from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belarus and the Confucius Institute at Belarusian State University concerning exchanges between China and Belarus would be compiled to be published, which bears an important significance for government agencies, enterprises and institutions, as well as scholars who focus on China-Belarus relations, Chinese history and their current situations.
Cui Qiming delivering a speech
China and Belarus have been working to conduct close cooperation in various fields and will continue to conduct in-depth cooperation in all areas within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative, said Cui Qiming.
Kanstantsin Shulhan delivering a speech
Just like cooperation in high technology, the issuing of this set of stamps will also help to foster friendly ties between China and Belarus, said Kanstantsin Shulhan. He also expressed his enthusiasm for the upcoming Chinese Lunar New Year.
Chorus“Friends”
Then, the Belarusian students from the Chinese language teachers’ class sang a Chinese song called “Friends”, and the volunteer Chinese language teachers at the Confucius Institute sang the classical song “Red Berries in Blossom” in Russian, which gave a full play to cultural exchanges between the two countries. (cited from Confucius Institute Headquarters, source:Republican Confucius Institute of Sinology at Belarusian State University)