On April 7th, 2013, the ceremony of resumption of the Confucius Institute of Kabul University was convened in the Chinese Language Department of the Faculty of Languages and Literature at the University. H.E. Mr. Xu Feihong, Ambassador of the People's Republic of China to Afghanistan, Mr. Habibullah Habib, Chancellor of Kabul University, Mr. Nasimi, Dean of the Faculty of Languages and Literature, Mr. Nazami, the Afghan President of the Confucius Institute and Mr. Zhao Jingwu, acting Chinese President of the Institute and over 50 student attended the ceremony.
Ambassador Xu congratulated on the resumption of the Confucius Institute. He said that youth was the most brilliant period in one's life, and the young generation was the future of a nation. So many young Afghan students were determined to learn Chinese, which perfectly proved that the friendship between China and Afghanistan would be carried forward from generation to generation. Language was a medium of spreading friendship, exchanging ideas and promoting mutual-understanding. Chinese was used by more people than any other language in the world. Recent years saw the shaping of "mandarin fever" around the world. An estimated 40 million people worldwide were learning Chinese. As China grew and engaged more with the world, mastering Chinese would create more opportunities for career development.
Ambassador Xu noted that China and Afghanistan were friendly neighbors and good partners. The peoples of the two countries enjoyed a time-honoured history of friendship. Since the Afghan peace and reconstruction process was launched, especially with the establishment of the Strategic and Cooperative Partnership in 2012, the bilateral friendship had been continuously strengthened and the cooperation in all fields had been boosted. It had assumed more significance to promote education of the Chinese language. Founded in 2008, the Confucius Institute gave education to over 100 professionals of the Chinese language. The first graduates were contributing to the development of China-Afghanistan relationship. Ambassador Xu expressed his best wishes to the students and encouraged them to deepen mutual understanding and enhance friendship between the peoples of the two countries.
Ambassador Xu emphasized that the Chinese government paid high attention to the construction of the Confucius Institute. The teaching building of the Chinese Language Department and accommodation building for foreign experts in Kabul University were to be completed soon. The Chinese Embassy in Afghanistan would continuously support the Confucius Institute and provide assistance within its capacity.
Chancellor Mr. Habibullah Habib agreed on Ambassador Xu's comments on China-Afghanistan relationship and the importance of mutual cooperation in language education. He said that being good neighbors, Afghanistan and China should understand each other's language more, which served as a bridge for mutual cooperation in all fields. Mr. Habib expressed his appreciation for China's kind assistance and strong support to the education of the Chinese language and voiced his support for the education cooperation between the two countries.
After the ceremony, Ambassador Xu was interviewed by Xinhua news agency and visited the teaching building of the Chinese Language Department and accommodation building for foreign experts in the University.
