Confucius institute in Botswana starts 5th anniversary celebrations

Confucius Institute at the University of Botswana (CIUB) on Monday started its 5th anniversary celebrations with cultural programs.

The institute, named after ancient Chinese philosopher Confucius, serve as non-profit public institutions to help foreigners better understand China through language teaching and culture introduction in universities overseas. The first such institute was established in 2004.

The five-day celebrations held at the campus of University of Botswana include photo exhibition, Chinese movies display, Chinese song and poem competition and open Chinese classes etc.

Chinese ambassador to Botswana Zheng Zhuqiang is scheduled to give a lecture on Tuesday as a guest speaker of the celebrations. The lecture, which is ahead of the celebration of 40 years' establishment of diplomatic ties between China and Botswana in January 2015, will focus on the achievements that have occurred between the two sides.

Meanwhile, Li Zhaoguo, professor and dean of Foreign Languages College of Shanghai Normal University is set to lecture on Thursday with the theme of traditional Chinese medicine and traditional Chinese ideas towards life and health.

CIUB was established under the memorandum of agreement between the University of Botswana and the partner university, Shanghai Normal University.