Pakistan-China Knowledge Corridor Begins in Beijing--China E

By Zafar Hussain

BEIJING, July 7 (China Economic Net) -- The Chairman of Pakistan's Higher Education Commission (HEC) Prof. Dr. Niaz Ahmad Akhtar, leading a high-powered delegation of vice chancellors, directors from nine leading Pakistani universities and HEC members, called for the launch of a "knowledge corridor" as the third phase of Pak-China cooperation during wide-ranging talks with Beijing Language and Culture University (BLCU) President Prof. Duan Peng.

The HEC Chairman painted a striking picture of the surging demand for Chinese language education across Pakistan. "Even today I am speaking English, but Chinese is now replacing English in my country," he remarked, attributing the shift to the deep friendship between the two nations and the fact that Pakistani students now form one of the largest international student communities in China.

Dr. Akhtar noted that beyond the Confucius Institutes, language departments at Pakistani universities including NUML, Allama Iqbal Open University, Punjab University and Government College University already run Chinese language programs that operate in morning, afternoon and evening shifts because demand outstrips supply.

He called for more Chinese language centers and teachers, particularly in underserved regions. Pointing to colleagues from Sindh, Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Kashmir seated around the table, he said existing institutions can't fulfill the growing demand. "We can provide the facilities, we can provide the space, but we need Chinese teachers," he said, adding that all four provinces were represented in the delegation.

The HEC Chairman also welcomed BLCU's proposal for standardizing Chinese language education in Pakistan, calling it "a great help for our Pakistani students," and extended offers of credit transfer arrangements, joint and double degree programs, and an invitation for President Duan to visit Pakistan. He noted that HEC had recently opened Pakistani institutions to the international community, allowing foreign universities such as BLCU to establish language and culture centers in the country.

Welcoming the delegation, President Duan Peng recalled BLCU's deep-rooted ties with Pakistan. In 2005, BLCU and the National University of Modern Languages (NUML) jointly established the Islamabad Confucius Institute, the first in the Islamic world, which has been consistently recognized as a model Confucius Institute globally and has long provided specialized Chinese language training for CPEC-related projects.

Prof. Duan stated that over six decades, BLCU has trained more than 300,000 international talents from 189 countries and regions. Dr. Akhtar noted that Chinese has become the most widely studied foreign language in Pakistani universities, with more Pakistani students learning Chinese than any other foreign language. He added that the number of international students enrolled in Pakistani universities has steadily increased from 3,000 to 9,000, and now to 12,000.

President Duan laid out a five-point cooperation agenda: expanding youth exchanges, faculty and student visits and short-term study programs; developing "language plus discipline" programs to nurture bilingual professionals in artificial intelligence, engineering, mining and information technology for CPEC development; including translation of classic works between Chinese and Urdu; developing localized Chinese teaching materials and teacher training systems for Pakistan while expanding Urdu language teaching in China; and establishing a national-level Chinese language resource center in Pakistan with locally adapted curriculum standards and a digital teaching resource database.

"When language connects, hearts draw near; when scholarship thrives, friendship endures," Prof. Duan said, pledging BLCU's readiness to contribute institutional strength to building an even closer China-Pakistan community with a shared future.