adminSamantha Chigogo Herald Reporter
The adoption of Mandarin is an important step towards bolstering the historic bilateral ties between Zimbabwe and the People’s Republic of China, a Cabinet minister has said.
Welfare Services for the War Veterans, War Collaborators, Former Political Detainees and Restrictees Minister Christopher Mutsvangwa said this during the Annual Confucius Day celebrations at the University of Zimbabwe yesterday.
“Following the rapid increase of Chinese investments and trade in the country, Mandarin and culture appreciation has become the trendsetter across Africa,” he said.
“China is a fast growing economy on the global market and this year alone we are on the verge of scaling up multi-billion-dollar deals with China, hence the need to learn their language.”
Minister Mutsvangwa said the Chinese had an appetite to build infrastructure in Africa, and Zimbabwe was more than willing to engage with them in boosting the economy.
He said since the adoption of the Look East Policy in 2003, Zimbabwe had seen the need to promote Chinese language locally.
Speaking at the commemorations, UZ Vice Chancellor Professor Levi Nyagura said the institution was in partnership with the Confucius Institute to promote the importance of Chinese language in forging business links between the two countries.
“Universities are a key population in the promotion of development and we continue celebrating the introduction of Chinese language at the institution as the youths have a mandate to appreciate Chinese efforts towards Zimbabwe investments,” he said.
Prof Nyagura urged youths to be more responsive to the global reality of learning Chinese as the new dominating language on the global economy.
“We have more to learn from China and the movement needs the contribution of the energetic young people in pushing the Confucius Institute forward,” he said.
Government is yet to integrate Chinese into the national curriculum for primary and secondary schools, but some schools have Mandarin classes as an extra-curricular activity.
More than 1 000 students have received training in Mandarin through the institute since 2007 and a few others are completing studies in China.
Zimbabwe integrated the Confucius Institute into the UZ’s academic structures in 2007, as part of an expanding network of about 400 Confucius Institutes worldwide.
The programme has largely been successful, and the university is expected to export surplus teachers of Chinese to other coun- tries.
Online Reporter