"Center for Chinese Language and Professional Skills" at Huagang Mineral Co., Ltd.: A Bond Connecting Cultural Exchange and Talent Cultivation between China and Congo

Established on December 16, 2021, the "Center for Chinese Language and Professional Skills" at Huagang Mineral Co., Ltd. is an international mining enterprise jointly initiated by a Chinese enterprise group consisting of China Railway Group, Power Construction Corporation of China, Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt, and Générale des Carrières et des Mines. As an important measure to implement the "going global" strategy in response to the "Belt and Road" Initiative, the Center was designed to improve professional skills and Chinese proficiency of foreign employees through the new model of "Chinese + Vocational Education", and cultural exchanges and understanding between China and Congo.

"Center for Chinese Language and Professional Skills" at Huagang Mineral Co., Ltd. is unveiled

The Center cultivates new local versatile talents proficient in language, culture and skills, and jointly builds the "Belt and Road" in a high-quality manner. It collaborates with educational institutions to develop a curriculum system, share technical resources, and build innovative platforms to maximize the benefits of talent training.

Congolese employees earnestly learn Chinese language and vocational skills in the training class of the Center

The Center adopts the education model of "Chinese + TVET", and offers targeted courses in Chinese and vocational skills based on the actual needs of the enterprise. For example, Alice, an assistant at the beneficiation plant and a Congolese employee who loves Chinese language and culture, voluntarily applied to be a part-time Chinese language teacher to teach her colleagues.

"Hello!"

"Hello everyone!"

"Hello everyone, I'm Alice."

In the first Chinese class of the Center, students from the beneficiation plant, smelting plant, sand and gravel plant and other departments gathered in the classroom, learning how to greet each other and introduce themselves in Chinese. They took notes from time to time, and actively took turns to show their Chinese proficiency on the platform. What a lively class!

Alice delved into the workers to understand their willingness and needs to learn Chinese, carefully prepared textbooks, and made PPT presentations. In class, she gave a unique Chinese lesson to local students through vivid demonstration and interesting interaction, and the explanation of Chinese by comparison between Chinese and French meanings.

Alice in her class

Michelle, one of the students and an employee of the Human Resource Department of Huagang Mineral Co., Ltd., said that due to language barriers, he had some embarrassing misunderstandings with Chinese colleagues before. The establishment of the Center provided him with an opportunity to learn Chinese language and skills, and he would cherish it and work hard to learn Chinese.

Employees apply the skills they learnt to operation to enhance their professional skills

Zhang Ruigang, Chairman of China Railway Resources Group, stated that in recent years, China Railway Resources has focused on long-term development, improved the overall ability and quality of all employees, and established the Center with the Kunming Metallurgy College. Supported by the Center for Language Education and Cooperation (CLEC), China Railway Resources will communicate with cooperative colleges to explore a new mode of university-enterprise education, promote international Chinese language education and vocational skills education to better serve the "Belt and Road" construction, and display the favorable image of Chinese funded central enterprises.

When proceeding, the "Center for Chinese Language and Professional Skills" at Huagang Mineral Co., Ltd. is expected to greatly improve the development of local economy and enterprise competitiveness. The Center will continue to strengthen cooperation with professional colleges, enrich teaching forms, improve the language communication ability and professional skills level of Congolese employees, and provide a talent reserve for building an international mining enterprise.

In the future, La Sino-Congolaise Des Mines S.A. will boost the Center, work with professional colleges to build a curriculum system, share technical resources, establish innovative platforms, enrich the teaching forms, improve the Chinese communication ability and professional skills level of local employees, and provide a talent reserve for building an international mining enterprise.