24 April 2004	Saturday	03 Rabi-ul-Awwal 1425

KARACHI, April 23: A two-day exhibition on higher education in China began here on Friday, under the aegis of China Scholarship Council (CSC).

The Consul-General of China at Karachi, Sun Chun Ye, inaugurated the show, wherein academic and administrative staff from 20 leading universities of China were available to visiting student community of Karachi.

Speaking at the inaugural ceremony of the exhibition, the deputy secretary general of CSC, Yang Xing Yu, said that the purpose of holding the "China Education Exhibition 2004" at Karachi was to introduce the Chinese educational institutions and system of their higher education to Pakistani citizens.

"We aim to create a deeper understanding of Chines education and culture among Pakistani students and scholars, who are already enjoying friendly relations between China and Pakistan for a long term," she added, saying that CSC would be happy to receive more students from Pakistan to study or do research in China.

She mentioned that degrees awarded by a number of Chinese universities were now being recognized by countries like France, UK, Germany and New Zealand, as well. CSC promote Chinese universities and also offers scholarship to international students taking education at Chinese institutions of higher learning.

Speaking as chief guest at the inaugural ceremony, the Chinese consul-general said that China and Pakistan enjoyed a long-term friendship and they were already cooperating with each other on economic, cultural and political fields.

Mentioning that there had been a major advancement in Chinese higher educational institutions, he said, adding these institutions had played a major role in economic development of his country.

Dr S A Rafiqui, the Dean of Civil Engineering and Architecture Faculty of the NED University of Engineering and Technology, proposed introduction of joint or split degree programmes between the two countries. He also underlined the need for conducting short Chinese language courses at Karachi.

The Chinese Education Exhibition at Karachi was last of a series of exhibitions by the CSC. Before coming to Karachi, the CSC arranged similar exhibitions in Dhaka and Islamabad.

At one of the stalls, Wang Enlin, vice director of the International Students Centre, said his institution, Beijing Institute of Technology, founded in 1940, was one of the key universities in China and well developed as an educational institution of engineering, sciences, management, humanities, economics, law and pedagogy.

He said at present, along with students from other countries, 13 Pakistanis were doing PhD at the institute. At the Huazhong University of Science and Technology stall, students were told that since 1960, the university had been accepting international students studying in China under the Chinese government scholarship programme.

Students asked pertinently about language problem in the case they decided to take education in China. However, the Cultural consul of China at Karachi, Gu Hongxing, was of the view that language was not a barrier as almost all the higher education institutions which admitted foreign students had got the facilities of language teaching for foreign students.

He said that education for foreigners in China was comparatively cheaper than that of the western countries. He said that the purpose of the exhibition was to facilitate Pakistani students, who already have a considerable knowledge about UK and US institutions, understanding status of Chinese institutions.