Ambassador of Greece to China Leonidas Rokanas visits prestigious Chinese Academic Institutions- Beijing Foreign Studies University

Ambassador of Greece to China Leonidas Rokanas, upon an invitation extended by the Rector of Beijing Foreign Studies University, Professor Han Zhen, paid a visit in early November 2016 to BFSU, China's biggest University for the study of foreign languages. The meeting was attended by the head of the European Languages Department Professor Zhao Gang, the Greek expert Mr. Yin Yali and teaching staff, Ms.  Qian Yingchao, and the head of the Press and Communication  Office of the Embassy of Greece, Euthymios Athanasiadis, in charge of educational affairs.

Professor Han Zhen referred to the importance attached to the study of Greek Lang. in BFSU since 2007, the pioneering extended (three year long) foreign study-in-Greece program, initiated for the last bunch of Greek learning students from BFSU, currently studying at Ioannina University, and the intention of BFSU to enhance academic and scholarly ties with Greece (currently close relations are held with University of Athens, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, and Ioannina Univ.) Among the current plans of the University is the establishment  this year, of a Greek Studies Center.

Ambassador Rokanas underscored the importance of the study of Greek language, especially for students in linguistics, humanities and social sciences, and the determination of the Embassy of Greece to support academic exchanges and cooperation between BFSU  and Greek academic institutions. The Greek Embassy will support the establishment of a Center for the studies of Modern and Contemporary Greece, with the aim of promoting research on the key role played by the country  as a pillar of stability, prosperity and security, as well as a constant beacon of cultural and educational excellence in the area of S.E. Europe. He also emphasized the importance of the current Year of Cultural Cooperation between Greece and China, following the visits of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras to Beijing-Shanghai in July 2016 and China's leader Mr. Liu Yunshan to Athens last October.