May 03, 2007	Thursday	Rabi-us-Sani 15, 1428

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ISLAMABAD, May 2: The International Islamic University (IIU) will establish a separate department for learning Chinese, under a memorandum of understanding (MoU) it signed with the Ningxia Academy of Social Sciences of China, here on Wednesday.

The MoU was signed by Dr Anwar Hussain Siddiqui, president, IIU, and Lei Xingkui, deputy president, Ningxia Academy of Social Sciences, China, who is currently visiting Pakistan as head of a six-member delegation of the Academy, said an official statement.

The MoU sets basic principles for academic cooperation between the two higher educational institutions.

According to the MoU, the Chinese academy will send researchers to learn Arabic, English, Islamic Culture and other subjects at the IIU each year and will bear their travelling and lodging expenses.

Similarly, the IIU will send its faculty members to China for research, learning the Chinese language and assimilating its culture.

The IIU will also allow the Chinese academy to reprint selected Arabic articles, published in its annual journal.

Both varsities have also agreed to foster cooperation in fields of economic research. This will also help IIU’s Dawah Academy to publish its work in Chinese for preaching the message of Islam.

The Chinese delegation informed the IIU about the objectives and achievements of the Ningxia Academy. Chinese academic institutions give equal importance to social sciences as well as basic and applied sciences and have a significant say in the high-level decision making, they said.

Dr Siddiqui said the IIU started its academic programmes with social sciences about 25 years ago and has established a full time faculty for this.

Senior faculty members were also present on the occasion. Both sides exchanged publications and souvenirs at the end of the briefing.

Later, the delegation visited the Islamic Research Institute, Dawah Academy and the Faculty of Arabic and Islamic Studies.

Members of the delegation included Lei Xiaojing, Ma Jingao, Vice Directors, Wu Jianwei, Professor, Wang Genming and Mai Jenji, Translator of the Ningxia Academy of Social Sciences, China.