3rd Confucius Institute opens in Ghana

ACCRA, Dec. 19 (Xinhua) -- The third Confucius Institute in Ghana opened Tuesday in Kumasi, the second-largest city, enabling local students to have easier access to learning the Chinese language and culture.

The institute, jointly launched by Ghana's Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) and China's Hubei University of Automotive Technology, is the third of its kind following the two at the University of Ghana and the University of Cape Coast respectively.

The inception of the third Confucius Institute in Ghana symbolizes a profound partnership in education, ensuring that the graduates are academically sound and well-prepared to navigate the challenges of an ever-evolving world, said Rita Akosua Dickson, vice-chancellor of KNUST at the launching ceremony.

"The Confucius Institute will play a pivotal role in enabling KNUST to develop a foreign model site for undergraduate Chinese programs and the learning of the Chinese language in the middle and the northern zones of Ghana," she said.

Zhang Wenxue, council chairman of the Hubei University of Automotive Technology, said the newly established Confucius Institute will serve as another platform to promote cultural exchanges and deepen friendship between the two countries.

Tang Hong, president of the Ghana Association of Chinese Societies, said Ghanaian graduates with Chinese proficiency are mostly welcomed in local job markets as China-Ghana cooperation forges ahead.

"More and more Ghanaian businessman has begun to communicate with their Chinese partners in Chinese. I am confident that through more exchange and mutual learning, the younger generation will become a new force for promoting the common development and progress between China and Ghana," Tang added.