Opening ceremony for South Africa-China joint training program in Mandarin and Chinese culture held online

The opening ceremony for a joint training program in Mandarin and Chinese culture for the local employees of Chinese enterprises in South Africa was held online on Oct. 29. The training program is being jointly offered by the South Africa-China Economic and Trade Association (SACETA) and the Confucius Institute of the University of Johannesburg with an aim to helping South African employees improve their individual professional skills and integrate into the work environment with greater ease and cultural fluency.

Xue Dong, counsellor of the Business Office of the Chinese Embassy in South Africa, said the training will contribute to the economic and trade relationship between the two countries, with the local people who join the training program expected to lend their efforts in helping the South African economy to recover.

Professor Saurabh Sinha, deputy vice-chancellor of the University of Johannesburg, delivered a speech during the ceremony. She said, “The University of Johannesburg continues to develop an entrepreneurial ecosystem both locally and, through communities of practice nationally, we believe that collaboration with the economic and trade association will serve a great purpose; we are keen for the internationalization of this entrepreneurial ecosystem that can bring about exchanges in innovation and start-ups between China and South Africa.”

Wang Wen'an, chairman of SACETA and chief representative of the State Grid Corporation of China, expressed his thanks to the Confucius Institute on behalf of SACETA. He said that the trade and economic activities between China and South Africa have developed rapidly. Since the establishment of SACETA, its members have invested more than $14 billion in South Africa, creating nearly 30,000 jobs for residents in local communities. He believed that this training program will not only help South African employees to better understand Chinese culture, but also create better conditions for enterprises to promote economic and trade activities between the two countries.

Professor Peng Yi presided over the opening ceremony and delivered a speech. She said that the Confucius Institute has made remarkable achievements in its provision of teaching, cultural activities, and academic research in recent years. The Confucius Institute has provided Chinese teaching and training not only to students from the University of Johannesburg, but also for government agencies and personnel in South Africa.

The Opening Ceremony was attended by more than 70 local employees. After attending the first culture and Chinese training course, the students were very excited and looked forward to the next course.