Chinese President Xi Jinping and Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev attended a ceremony in Astana on July 3 to inaugurate the Kazakhstan branch of the BLCU.
This university is the first overseas branch of a Chinese university to offer undergraduate education, jointly established by BLCU and Astana International University.
The BLCU Kazakhstan branch currently offers undergraduate and master's degree programs, as well as preparatory courses. Students need to take Kazakhstan's college entrance examination before applying. Those from neighboring countries like Uzbekistan and Tajikistan can also apply based on their college entrance examination scores.
Students with no prior Chinese language knowledge can attend a one-year preparatory course first before officially starting their studies at the BLCU Kazakhstan branch. Upon graduation, they would receive a BLCU diploma and academic records recognized by the Chinese Ministry of Education.
"This is very attractive in Kazakhstan and all other Central Asian countries," said Duan Peng, principle of Beijing Language and Culture University (BLCU).
BLCU's predecessor was the Higher Preparatory School for Foreign Students established in 1962. Over time, it became a base for international students to learn Mandarin, Chinese students to learn foreign languages, and the training of Chinese teachers for overseas assignments.
Tokayev, a sinologist who speaks fluent Chinese language, is a distinguished alumnus of BLCU and studied there for short-term training courses from 1983 to 1984.
"Tokayev loves Chinese food and speaks fluent Chinese. He often cycled in the Wudaokou neighborhood of Beijing, witnessing the improvement in the living standards among Chinese residents and the country's rise to prosperity, which greatly impressed him," Duan said.
Duan added that Tokayev has done an excellent job of "endorsing" the BLCU Kazakhstan branch, encouraging young people to learn Chinese and promoting Sino-Kazakh cultural exchanges.
Tokayev is one of many foreign dignitaries nurtured by BLCU. As the only Chinese university named after "language" and dedicated to spreading Chinese language and culture, BLCU is often referred to as "the Mini-United Nations".
Duan said that BLCU has trained over 300,000 foreign students from 189 countries and regions worldwide, including more than 80 foreign dignitaries at the vice-premier level or above, over 300 ambassadors, as well as Nobel Prize-winning scientists, renowned artists, and sinologists.
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