Ethiopia's first "Center for Chinese Language and Professional Skills" Established, Sino-foreign Cooperation Drives High-quality Development of Local Chinese Language Education

On December 13 local time, Ethiopia's first "Center for Chinese Language and Professional Skills" was unveiled in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia. It was jointly established by the Center for Language Education and Cooperation (CLEC), in collaboration with the East Africa Regional Headquarters of the China First Highway Engineering Co. Ltd (CFHEC) and Shaanxi Polytechnic Institute, and vigorously supported by the Mission of PRC to the African Union.

Song Yongbo, Deputy Director-General of CLEC, said at the ceremony that this year marks the tenth anniversary of the joint construction of the "Belt and Road" Initiative. With its high-quality development, more and more China-funded enterprises have "gone global" with the growing need for localized development. CLEC innovatively launched the "Center for Chinese Language and Professional Skills" in 2021 to establish a new educational format of "Chinese + TVET". Up to now, 26 centers have been established in 19 countries to serve China-funded enterprises for going global. The first center in Ethiopia will further meet local needs for learning the Chinese language and understanding Chinese culture, cultivate compound talents with proficiency in language, culture and skills for local enterprises, and contribute to high-quality development of the "Belt and Road" construction and China-Ethiopia community of shared future.

Zhao Wei, Deputy Secretary of Committee for Discipline Inspection of CFHEC and chair of the council of Overseas Department of CFHEC, said that CFHEC will continue to leverage the achievements and abundant resources accumulated over the years in Ethiopia, and fully support the implementation and progress of "Center for Chinese Language and Professional Skills" in Ethiopia.

Tian Hao, Vice Chair of the School Council of Shaanxi Polytechnic Institute, said that the center in Ethiopia has built a new platform for and refreshed the efforts of the Institute to drive government-university-enterprise cooperation, give play to the advantages of school running and professional expertise, and serve the "Belt and Road".

During its stay, the delegation of CLEC was invited to the Oromia Education Bureau in Ethiopia and attended the signing ceremony of the textbook development cooperation agreement for Hello, Chinese (Volumes 3 and 4), the first set of local Chinese language textbooks published and distributed in Ethiopia. It is funded by CLEC, jointly initiated by Tianjin University of Technology and Education and the Oromia Education Bureau in Ethiopia, and led by the Confucius Institute at Addis Ababa University in Ethiopia. It is jointly compiled by experts and frontline teachers from China and Ethiopia, and will effectively alleviate the shortage of Chinese language textbooks in Ethiopia.

At the signing ceremony, Tolla Berisso Geda, Director of the Oromia Education Bureau, delivered a speech to express gratitude to CLEC for its strong support to local Chinese language education. Tolla Berisso Geda hoped that both sides would continue comprehensive strategic cooperation in the future to meet the growing local demand for Chinese language education. Song Yongbo stated that CLEC is willing to continuously deepen cooperation with the Oromia Education Bureau, and promote the high-quality development of international Chinese language education in Ethiopia with this opportunity.