Opinions & Interviews

“This school year we will expand the Chinese language program in Belarus, and the process will continue. Belarus and China are implementing large-scale social, economic and investment projects, the largest of them being the Chinese-Belarusian industrial park Great Stone,” said Igor Karpenko. He drew attention to the fact that big companies such as Huawei, ZTE, construction corporations are already present in Belarus. “This all highlights the importance of learning Chinese as there is a need to implement the agreements concluded at the highest level,” the minister said.

Igor Karpenko confirmed the interest in the agreements reached during the current visit of the Chinese delegation and pledged the support from the Education Ministry. For his part, President of Hefei University of Technology Liang Liang spoke about significant attention to the development of the Silk Road economic belt. Belarus is one of the most important partners of China in the new transcontinental integration project.

The Chinese delegation visited several educational institutions in Minsk, including Belarusian State University, Belarusian State University of Culture and Arts, and Belarusian State Technological University (BSTU). The parties have been discussing various options for further cooperation. So, for example, Hefei University of Technology and BSTU run three similar programs. An agreement was reached to develop joint education programs. There are plans to introduce a 2+2 training system during which students will study for two years in Belarus and China. An agreement on academic and scientific cooperation was concluded between the Belarusian State Technological University and Hefei University of Technology. The document was signed by Igor Voitov and Liang Liang. Another important agreement was to set up a cultural and education center in the Belarusian State University of Culture and Arts. The center will run programs of additional education.

The Chinese delegation praised the scientific achievements of the Belarusian universities. Chinese representatives also reaffirmed the interest in attracting specialists to teach Russian in China.

The parties welcomed the dynamic development of the Belarusian-Chinese relations. The education systems have been contributing to the momentum. The education minister of China paid a visit to Belarus. A number of agreements were signed at the forum of university rectors of the two countries. There is also an intergovernmental agreement that recognizes education certificates. The education ministries of the two countries are implementing the agreements on the popularization of the Chinese language in Belarus and cooperation in teaching Chinese. The two ministries also signed documents on on-the-job training, retraining and enhancement of qualifications. The parties emphasized that the current legal framework helps the educational institutions of Belarus and China efficiently cooperate and sign agreements.