Prof. Kenneth Kamwi Matengu, Vice Chancellor of UNAM,

Principals, Teachers and Students,

Dr. Liu Dianbo, Chinese Director of the Confucius Instutute at the UNAM,

Friends from the Media, Distinguished Guests:

Good morning!

It is a great pleasure to be back in the University of Namibia (UNAM), and participate in the 2025 "Chinese Bridge" Chinese Proficiency Competition Award Ceremony and the First Chinese Talent Show.

First, I wish to thank Vice Chancellor Matengu and all the principals, teachers, and students present here for celebrating with us the International Chinese Language Day.

It has become a tradition for us to gather here in UNAM every year to celebrate the International Chinese Language Day. Vice Chancellor Matengu and the UNAM have made great contribution to promoting Chinese language teaching in Namibia, which I am deeply appreciative of.

This is a happy day for all of us. However, first and foremost, it’s a special day for our learners. By participating in the Chinese Proficiency Competition, our learners will know how much they have learnt in the past year, and where they need to improve in future.

I wish to congratulate all the learners for their achievements. In particular, I would suggest we give a big applause again to all the prize winners of the competition. We share their success and joys.

Since its establishment in 2013, the Confucius Institute at UNAM has given Chinese language lessons to nearly 8,000 students in total. Dr. Liu Dianbo and his colleagues are indeed commendable for their hard work.

It’s encouraging to see there is wide enthusiasm for Chinese language learning in Namibia, and greater investment is needed to meet the ever-growing demand in this regard.

The Beijing Action Plan (2025–2027) which was adopted at the 2024 Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) made it very clear that China and Africa will continue to support high-quality development of Confucius Institutes in Africa. This is good news for all of us.

China is ready to enhance its cooperation with African countries on Chinese language education through jointly offering Chinese language subjects, training Chinese language teachers, promoting digital teaching and learning, etc.

China will also provide “Chinese language plus vocational skills” education in Africa, jointly develop Chinese-language workshops with African countries where conditions permit, and train personnel with multiple skills including language proficiency and vocational skills.

Education has been and will remain as a priority for China-Namibia cooperation, just as quality education and training has been designated as one of the seven priority areas of the Namibian Government by Her Excellency Dr. Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, President of the Republic of Namibia in her maiden state of the nation address last week.

Namibian education institutions like the UNAM will continue to play a critical role in promoting educational exchanges and cooperation between China and Namibia. Actually, under the leadership of Prof. Matengu, the UNAM has already become a champion in forging partnership with Chinese Universities. In the future, the Chinese Embassy will continue to provide facilitation for even closer engagement between Namibian education institutions and their Chinese counterparts.

I am delighted that this year we are hosting the first Chinese Talent Show on the International Chinese Language Day. I was told that our learners will present us a variety of wonderful performances. I am looking forward to that. And now I have the honor to declare the First Chinese Talent Show officially open.  

Thank you!