Daily Times

Currently there are around 25,000 Pakistani students studying in China. Most of them are in the S&T sector, especially applied Sciences in Engineering and Agriculture. The students enjoy a very good reputation, and some of PhD supervisors I met from these universities gave excellent feedback over their progress.

They had a very high opinion of Pakistani students, lauding their English speaking skills, and their approach to research. They also said they had good manners and interacted well with teachers and other students, both local and foreign. No wonder then, especially with this kind of feedback, that Chinese universities are willing to take more and more students from Pakistan.

It is expected that this number will continue to grow in the future as well. Most of the students go to China for undergraduate programs and they study Chinese language before joining their area of specialisation.

They study alongside Chinese students, in their language and have to compete with them once they graduate. They are ideal for the future friendship between Pakistan and China, as these students not only study their specialisation, they do it in the Chinese language, while at the same time learning about the country’s culture, traditions, system and politics etc. Once they come back home, they can act as effective ambassadors for China.

The Ministry of Planning and Reform is in charge of CPEC and yet they do not have even one person with a deep understanding of China or its people. They must rectify this mistake immediately if they want the project to succeed in the future

Some of our students go to China for Master level programs or for PhD programs. When they return back to Pakistan, they are well placed in society, especially PhD degree holders, and can get any job they want. They also contribute greatly to the socio-economic development of Pakistan.

This is the reason why there is currently a dire need to induct graduates from China in to the various projects surrounding CPEC. The Ministry of Planning and Reform is in charge of CPEC and yet they do not have even one person with a deep understanding of China or its people.

They must induct people with a good command of China’s affairs and luckily for them there are already around 20,000 graduates available, as students have been travelling to China since 1974. Graduates from Chinese universities can be found in a range of different field in Pakistan. Each government department assigned to work on CPEC needs experienced people with a background from China.

In addition to their established universities, the Chinese also provide short-term specialised trainings to Pakistani professionals. They have also initiated visits between the scientists in both countries, and they have helped establish five joint state-of-the-art laboratories in Pakistan for developing human resource in much needed areas.

China provides post doctorate research facilities to Pakistani professionals, and has conducted conferences, workshops, and seminars for Pakistani professionals as well. They have also been providing specialised trainings in various areas of emerging technologies and trends.

China has become the major contributor of human resource for Pakistan that will help us progress as a nation. The special relationship between the two nations has grown since the advent of CPEC and hopefully it gets even better in the future.

Long Live China-Pakistan Friendship. Ba-Zhong You Yi Wan Sui.

The writer is Sinologist (ex-Diplomat), Non-Resident Fellow of CCG (Centre for China and Globalization), National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST), Islamabad, Pakistan

Published in Daily Times, June 24^th 2018.