On the afternoon of 15 November 2021, the Opening Ceremony of the 2021 Chinese Language Course for Principals of Indonesian Middle Schools was successfully held. Mr. Chen Dehai, Secretary-General of the ASEAN-China Centre (ACC), Mr. Djauhari Oratmangun, Ambassador of Indonesia to China, Dr. Praptono, Director of School Principal, Superintendent and Education Personnel of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology of Indonesia, Dr. Su Dapeng, Deputy Secretary of the CPC Committee of Beijing Foreign Studies University (BFSU), and Dr. Siswantoyo, Principal of Yogyakarta State University of Indonesia, attended and addressed the opening ceremony online.

Mr. Djauhari Oratmangun stated that Indonesia is the largest economy in Southeast Asia and ranks the world’s fourth most populous nation. The Indonesian government is determined to improve the quality of human resources and make full use of the opportunity period of demographic dividend to promote the sustainable development of Indonesian economy. The collaboration between Indonesia and China in the fields of economy, education and human capacity building has been continuously strengthened in recent years. This language course is another important attempt of the practical educational cooperation between the two sides. It is hoped that the principals participating in the course will further comprehend Chinese language and culture, help Indonesian students better understand China and carry out more extensive cooperation with China.

Mr. Chen Dehai pointed out that with the integration of China’s Belt and Road Initiative and Indonesia’s Global Maritime Fulcrum Strategy, people-to-people exchanges between the two countries have been significantly stimulated. The demand for Chinese language learning among Indonesian youngsters has been expanding. Chinese has become one of the most spoken foreign languages in Indonesia. Since September 2021, ACC has co-organised 5 sessions of training with different types and themes for Indonesian education workers together with the Centre for Language Education and Cooperation of the Ministry of Education of China, BFSU and Dalian University of Foreign Languages. They are all beneficial attempts of practical educational collaboration between Indonesia and China. ACC is willing to join hands with relevant parties, continuously promote practical cooperation in the field of education, make exchanges of languages and cultures a bridge of friendship, and further boost Indonesia-China relations.

Dr. Su Dapeng extended sincere gratitude to ACC and the Embassy of Indonesia in China for their trust and support to BFSU in organising this course. He pointed out that the year 2021 marks the 80th anniversary of BFSU as well as the 30th anniversary of ASEAN-China dialogue relations. Therefore, it is of great significance for BFSU to undertake this project, which not only embodies China-Indonesia good-neighbourliness, but also echoes BFSU’s mission to promote the educational and cultural exchanges and cooperation between China and the rest of the world. As the organiser of this project, BFSU will strive for excellence through thoughtful organisation. It is hoped that the trainees will have a better understanding of Chinese culture and education, and make positive contributions to expanding exchanges and collaboration between the two countries. 

The training course is co-hosted by ACC and the Embassy of Indonesia in China. 119 principals of Indonesian middle schools are to immerse in the 30-hour course of Chinese language and culture.