VELLORE: A Chinese language centre was inaugurated at the Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT) University here on Monday by the Chinese Ambassador to India Zhang Yan. The other countries where such facilities have been created are Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Nepal.
Declaring open the statue of Chinese philosopher Confucius at the campus, the first statue to be installed outside China, sponsored by the Chinese Language Council attached to the Zhengzhou University, Yan said that the inauguration of the center had elevated VIT as a modern Nalanda University, which had nourished bilateral relations through language development.
Yan said that learning Chinese had become a worldwide phenomena as over 30 million people outside China were studying the language in about 100 countries, since Chinese speaking students tend to have good employment potential across the globe.
Over 1,200 Chinese students were studying in India, 420 in VIT alone, while around 2,000 Indian students were studying in Chinese universities now.
He said that educational tools and teaching materials to learn Chinese have also been provided to the VIT center. A group of teachers from China would be recruited here soon.
Some of the Chinese universities were offering Indian languages such as Hindi and Tamil in connection with research activities.
VIT chancellor G Viswanathan said that the VIT center would initially offer courses for the students and faculty members of the varsity.
The facility would be extended to the general public in future, he added. The initiative by VIT would pave way for better relations between the countries, Viswanathan said he hoped.
Dr Junbiao Chang, vice chancellor of the Zhengzhou University said that the center would provide a platform for the Indian students to learn not only the language but also the Chinese culture.
District collector C Rajendran who presided over the function pointed out that languages depicted the true culture and tradition.
Welcoming the establishment of the center, Rajendran said that the district administration had helped in getting the VISA for over 455 Chinese students this year.
VIT also celebrated the University day on the occasion in which scholarship were presented.
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