Learning Chinese will open jobs highway for many Pakistanis

Islamabad: Ambassador of People’s Republic of China, Yao Jing, speaking at the event ‘UN-Chinese Language Day’ as the chief guest, said the promotion of the Chinese language in Pakistan is a new stage of cooperation between the two countries, since language is the most important means for communication, cooperation and connectivity, says a press release.

He stressed that the two countries are working together to promote people-to-people contact between the two countries by establishing study centres. “In China, there are eight universities working to promote the Urdu language and 12 Pakistan-study centres working to promote mutual understanding between the two countries.” He congratulated the Pakistan-China Institute under the leadership of Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed, on the efforts the think-tank platform has made to promote the bilateral relationship between Pakistan and China. “To commemorate the efforts of the institute, on behalf of the Chinese Government, we will take 30 Chinese language trainers from the PCI to China to promote further cooperation.”

The function was organised by Pakistan-China Institute, a think-tank working to promote the bilateral relations between Pakistan and China at Pakistan Institute of Parliamentary Services, (PIPS) Islamabad and was largely attended by think-tanks, university professors, students, parliamentarians and media personnel.

Speaking on the occasion, Pakistan-China Institute (PCI) Chairman Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed said that people to people relationships are extremely important. “Last year, during the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) Joint Cooperation Committee JCC), for the first time culture and tourism were included as a part of CPEC,” he said. He further talked about the rising trend of the Chinese language learners and Pakistani university students studying in China. “25,000 Pakistani students are learning Chinese, 22,000 Pakistanis are studying in China and there are 60,000 Pakistani employees working for Chinese companies and this number is set to rise”

Ambassador (r) Hasan Javed, director Chinese studies centre at National University of Science and Technology (NUST), in his remarks mentioned how the Chinese Silk Route, which is now being described as the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), is important for Pakistan’s history. “The Silk route converged in Peshawar, where traders from different ethnicities would do business,” he said, while also emphasising the importance of history and culture of the Chinese language.

Other speakers at the event included Zamir Awan, Sinologist at National University of Science and Technology; Dr Zhang Daojian, Director General Confucius Institute Islamabad and Mustafa Hyder Sayed, Executive Director of the Pakistan-China Institute who stressed on the soft-power of China i.e. culture and its importance in a Pakistani context, since the evolution of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).