On 16 July, 2012, Confucius Institute at Kathmandu University (CIKU) held a grand ceremony to mark its 5th Anniversary in Kumari Hall of Hotel Annapurna. H.E. Mr. Yang Houlan, Chinese Ambassador to Nepal, Hon. Mr. Dinanath Sharma, Minister for Education of Nepal, Prof. Dr. Suresh Raj Sharma, Vice Chancellor of Kathmandu University, Prof. Dr. Chen Liang, Vice-President of Hebei University of Economics & Business, along with the teachers and students of CIKU joined the ceremony.
Associate Prof. Zhang Shubin, Chinese Director of CIKU and Prof. Dr. Suresh Raj Sharma, Vice Chancellor of Kathmandu University, extended their sincere thanks and warm welcome to all those who have made great contribution to the development of CIKU during the past five years.
Minister Sharma and other attendants said in their remarks that Confucius is a great philosopher of China. His ideology of peace, fair and humanity is the essence of oriental culture, and is still moving head today. Since CIKU established five years ago, thousands of students of Nepal and other South Asian countries have been benefited. Their enthusiasm to learn Chinese also reflects their goodwill to further develop friendly relations with China. CIKU not only teaches students Chinese language and culture, but also help Nepalese and Chinese to communicate with each other. They hoped that such cooperation will be further expanded.
Vice –president Chen Liang said that CIKU is the first Confucius Institute that Hebei University of Economics & Business has set up overseas. Under the leadership of Hanban and the support from both Chinese and Nepali sides, CIKU has made remarkable achievements over the past five years. It has formed the model of "One Confucius Institute affiliated with four Confucius Classrooms and multiple teaching centers ". It not only has general Chinese language class, but also gives training course of Chinese for business, tourism and hotel management. The number of students increases to over 4000 from tens in the beginning. In the coming days, Hebei University of Economics & Business hopes to strengthen the exchanges with Katmandu University.
H.E. Ambassador Yang Houlan extended his warm congratulations to CIKU and sincere gratitude to those who have contributed to the development of CIKU. He said that CIKU has also set up a bridge of language, culture and friendship between the peoples of the two countries. He believed that with the joint effort of the friends in different fields, CIKU will achieve a greater and more glorious success, will play a more vital role in the friendly communication, and will make a more solid foundation for the Comprehensive Partnership of Cooperation between China and Nepal.
On the ceremony, the students of CIKU performed fascinating Chinese singing and dancing programs.