As China continues to bolster its support for education in the northern regions of Pakistan, fifteen students from the Karakoram International University (KIU) Hunza campus have been granted financial assistance through the ‘China-Pakistan Friendship-Ambassadorial Merit-cum-Need Scholarship’ program. The students were presented with scholarship checks during a ceremony held at the KIU Hunza campus, Gwadar Pro reported on Tuesday. The event featured Dr. Safdar Ali Shah, Director General of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor Cell at the Higher Education Commission (HEC), as the chief guest. He distributed the checks among the students. ”Spend the money on your education to fulfill the purpose of the scholarship,” advised Safdar Ali Shah to the deserving students who qualified for the scholarship. He also expressed gratitude to the Embassy of China for their generous contribution towards education in the northern region. Under the scholarship program of the Chinese Ambassadorial Program, every year 140 scholarships are disbursed to the needy and talented students of KIU main campus and its sub-campuses. To address the issue of gender balance, a minimum of 50% of the beneficiaries are females. On August 30, 2023, the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in Islamabad awarded a grant of Rs. 7 million to foster educational excellence at KIU in Gilgit-Baltistan. On June 20, 2023, at least 130 KIU students received financial assistance under the ‘China-Pakistan Friendship-Ambassadorial Merit-cum-Need Scholarship’ program. The program promotes gender balance with a minimum of half of the scholarship being awarded to female students in both KIU’s main and sub-campuses.