Vellore: Chinese Ambassador Zhang Yan has inaugurated a Chinese language centre at Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT) University, Tamil Nadu. In the inauguration ceremony, a statue of Chinese philosopher Confucius was installed at the campus, the first statue to be installed outside China. The statue was sponsored by the Chinese Language Council attached to the Zhengzhou University. Before India, Chinese language centers have already been opened up in Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Nepal.
As a part of the language center, educational tools and teaching materials to learn Chinese have also been provided at the VIT University. In the inauguration ceremony, Yan said that a group of teachers from China would be recruited here soon. He also mentioned that the inauguration of the center has encouraged bilateral relations, through language development, and also has elevated VIT, as a modern Nalanda University. He further elaborated that learning Chinese has become widespread trend, with 30 million people studying the language outside China, in about 100 countries. The reason for this is the fact that Chinese-speaking students tend to have good employment prospective across the globe.
According to VIT Chancellor G Viswanathan, initially, the VIT center would offer courses for the students and faculty members of the varsity. Later, the facility would be extended to the general public. He added that the initiative taken up by VIT would help in building better relations between the two countries, in future. The center is expected to serve as a platform for the Indian students, where they will not only learn the Chinese language, but also get themselves acquainted with the country's culture.
