On the morning of March 9, the opening ceremony of the Sixth Arab Officials Seminar of CARC was held at the Songjiang Campus of SISU. This seminar consists of 30 diplomats from Yemen.
Li Yansong, President of SISU, Director of CARC; Ossan Oude, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Yemen; Li Chengwen, Ambassador of the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Board Chairman of CARC, delivered speeches in sequence. The opening ceremony was presided over by Wang Guangda, Secretary-General and Executive Director of the CARC Council.
President Li Yansong inaugurated the ceremony with a welcoming speech. He introduced the history and mission of SISU, emphasized that SISU and Yemen have a special friendship. As the organizer of CARC, SISU will give full play to its academic advantages, further promote research in the fields of national conditions, reform and development, people-to-people exchanges, and contribute to strengthening exchanges between China and Arab countries through educational exchanges and cooperation. Deputy Minister Ossan Oude expressed gratitude to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Education, the Shanghai Municipal Government and SISU. He pointed out that China-Yemen friendship is based on the historical framework between the two countries and the current equal cooperation. China-Yemen relations will not be affected by any unexpected factors. They are grateful for the Chinese government's firm support for Yemen's unity, sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity, and China’s humanitarian aid to Yemen. On behalf of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Li Chengwen welcomed the arrival of the participants and appreciated CARC for the great efforts. He stressed that the Yemen issue must be resolved by political means such as dialogue and negotiation. China is willing to share its experience of reform and development with Yemen and provide new perspectives and advice for the Yemeni people to seek peace and development.
Yuan Quan, the Second Secretary of the Asian and African Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Wang Zheng, Deputy Director of the Foreign Affairs Office of SISU, and representatives of teachers and students from the foreign language department of SISU also attended the opening ceremony.
During the 10-day training program, the participants will study with Chinese experts and scholars on China's foreign policy, ethnic and religious policies, reform and opening up experience, as well as China-Arab cooperation in the Belt and Road Initiative through training, visits and exchanges. At the same time, the center arranged a variety of on-site visits to the participants, including visiting the Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Hall, the buildings along the Huangpu River on the Bund, Zhengtai Electric, Shanghai Electric and other enterprises, and heading for Yangzhou to witness the construction of the old city and the transformation of the new city. Hoping that the participants will navigate the concept and achievements of China's reform and development through firsthand experience.
On the morning of March 17, 2019, the graduation ceremony of the Sixth Arab Officials Seminar was held at the International Education Center of Songjiang Campus. Li Yansong, President of SISU, Director of CARC; Adel Hamd, Counsellor of the Embassy of Yemen in Germany; Hua Xin, Counsellor of Asian and African Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Zhu Weilie, Director of CARC Experts Committee; Sun Xiaodan, First Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Yuan Quan, the Second Secretary attended the graduation ceremony. President Li Yansong, Counsellor Adel and Counsellor Hua Xin delivered speeches respectively. The graduation ceremony was hosted by Wang Guangda, Secretary-General and Executive Director of CARC Council.
President Li Yansong made a speech first and congratulated the participants on the successful completion of the 10-day training and research. Counsellor Adel thanked the staff and volunteers of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Education, the Shanghai Municipal Government, SISU, the Yangzhou Municipal Government, and CARC. In the past ten days, the participants have personally felt the development achievements of Shanghai as the pioneer of China's reform and opening up, and the development concept of Yangzhou's modernization and preservation of traditional culture, which is of great significance for post-war reconstruction in Yemen. On behalf of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Counsellor Hua Xin congratulated the participants on the successful completion of the seminar and thanked CARC for their great efforts in organizing the seminar. President Li Yansong and Deputy Director Hua Xin issued the certificate of completion to the participants, and presented the New Concept, New Ideas and New Strategies for the Party Central Government Governing the Country with Comrade Xi Jinping as the Core (Arabic Edition) and souvenirs.
After the graduation ceremony, Counsellor Hua Xin and Professor Zhu Weilie co-hosted the exchange of Listening and Dialogue: Expectation of China-Yemen Cooperation”. The participants expressed their feelings and experiences of participating in the seminar, made suggestions and hopes for future China-Yemen cooperation. Finally, Professor Zhu Weilie concluded that Yemen is a good friend and good brother of China. The Chinese people firmly believe that Yemen will gain great development and prosperity. It is hoped that in the future, China and Yemen will meet again in friendly exchanges and cooperation.