BEIJING – With over 25,000 students including 6,000 Ph.D. scholars fromPakistan studying in different universities of China, the South Asiancountry has become the third-largest source of China’s internationalstudents.
“The number of Pakistani students has risen from 9,630 in 2013 to 25,000last year owing to a series of preferential policies after the launch ofChina Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) framework,” Pakistan Ambassador toChina, Masood Khalid said while addressing ‘Pakistan Students Forum’ heldhere. More than 400 Pakistani students studying in Beijing and other citiesattended the forum.
Welcoming the students at the forum, first of its nature held in thepremises of the Embassy of Pakistan, he advised the student to abide by thelocal laws during their stay in China.
Ambassador Khalid said a number of employment opportunities would beavailable in Pakistan on the projects being completed under the CPEC whenthey would return to the homeland.
He, however, asked them to explore opportunities in different companies inChina after the completion of their studies.
He said the Pakistan government was making efforts to open vocationaltraining and professional skill centers with the cooperation of Chinaenabling young Pakistani students to learn skills and get jobs in the CPECprojects.
Ambassador Khalid also called upon the Pakistani students to respect localculture and also introduce Pakistani culture by taking part in differentcultural activities in China.
He also briefed them about the latest progress of the CPEC, a pilot projectof Belt and Road Initiative initiated by Chinese President Xi Jinping andsaid that China had become number one foreign investor after its launch.
He informed that the CPEC had entered to industrialization phase and out ofnine industrial parks, around three would be established in the country.
About the energy projects, he said that now the electricity production hadincreased after completion of seven projects while another six would becompleted in the next three years.
Regarding Gwadar port, he said that different auxiliary projects includingGwadar East Bay Expressway and the Gwadar Port Free Zone were in theimplementation phase and Phase-I of Gwadar Port Free Zone had beencompleted.
The Ambassador also briefed the students about the latest situation afterIndian violations of Pakistan’s airspace in wake of Pulwama incident.
He informed that Pakistan’s armed forces were fully alert and shot down twoIndian fighter aircraft when they violated Pakistan airspace.
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He said the entire nation was united and Pakistan armed forces were fullycapable to defend the motherland.
Speaking on occasion, Minister CWA, Ali Sabir Kayani briefed the studentsabout the counselor services available for Pakistani community includingthe issuance of passports, travel documents, birth registration,attestation, and assistance during detentions and arrests.
He informed that a number of Pakistanis were imprisoned in different jailsmainly because of drug smuggling but said the number of drug smuggling hasdecreased significantly due to effective measures are Pakistani airportsduring the last few years.
He advised the students to strictly follow the Chinese law and immediatelyinform the embassy in case of an emergency.
Cultural Counselor, Raheel Tariq apprised the audience about the culturalcooperation agreement signed between Pakistan and China some five decadesago.
He informed that a number of cultural activities including an artexhibition, food festival, cultural galas and participation in filmfestival were organized to promote the culture and heritage of Pakistan inChina.
Raheel Tariq said that Pakistan study centers and Urdu departments had alsobeen established in various universities in China while China had set upfour Confucius centers in Pakistan.
Counselor, Dr. Ata Ur Rehman informed the students about the cooperation inthe field of science and technology between the two all-weather friends.
He said a number of opportunities under training and exchange programmewere available for young Pakistani scientists.
Education Attache, Suleman Mahsood gave a complete overview of Pakistanistudents studying engineering, medical, science, and Chinese language inChina.
He said that Pakistani student studying in postgraduate programmes were onscholarship and often won best international student award whileundergraduate students study on a self-finance basis and mostly excelled inthe Chinese language.
