On September 23, the Confucius Institute in Zimbabwe held the 2019 Confucius Day. Chinese Ambassador Guo Shaochun and his wife, Counselor Wang Wei, Wu Xiaoqiu, Vice President of Renmin University of China, and 500 students from the Confucius Institute attended the event.

    In his speech, Ambassador Guo Shaochun warmly congratulated the Confucius Institute on its 12th anniversary and extended a warm welcome to Wu Xiaoqiu, a famous Chinese economist and Vice President of Renmin University of China. Ambassador Guo said that at present, more than 100 million people around the world are learning Chinese, and the demand for Chinese language learning is growing rapidly. The rapid development of China is increasingly connected with the world. By the end of last year, China had established 548 Confucius Institutes in 154 countries and opened 1193 Confucius Classrooms with a registered number of 810000. The Confucius Institute at the University of Zimbabwe has 3000 graduates, 50 of whom have master's degrees and 3 of whom have received doctoral degrees. They teach Chinese in schools and institutions, spread Chinese culture, and made important contributions to the friendship between China and Zimbabwe.

    Ambassador Guo said that this year marks the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. After 70 years of development, China has become the world's second largest economy. In 2018, GDP of China exceeded 13.6 trillion USD. Over the past 40 years, 740 million people have been lifted out of poverty, accounting for more than 70% of the total number of people out of poverty in the same period. This is a great feat of human history. Learning Chinese will enable Zimbabwean students to enhance their understanding of Chinese history, culture, development path and development experience, and contribute their own strength to promote economic and social development in Zimbabwe.

    Ms. Moyana, Vice President of the University of Zimbabwe, extended a warm welcome to Vice President Wu Xiaoqi. She said that the Confucius Institute Day event was held in many countries around the world to celebrate the birth of Confucius, the great philosopher, educator and politician of ancient China. Confucius' philosophy has a profound influence and shaped China today. Since its establishment 12 years ago, the Confucius Institute at the University of Zimbabwe has achieved great success, allowing more Zimbabwean youth to learn Chinese language and culture and become a messenger of the friendship between the two countries.

    The students of the Confucius Institute in Zimbabwe then performed chorus, dance, marimba and other programs. The Confucius Institute students sang a song of I Love You China and paid tribute to the 70th anniversary of the founding of New China.