Conference highlights importance of English
English-language education in China is of greater importance as the country explores wider, broader and deeper opening-up in the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) period, experts said on Friday at an international conference.
Chinese English-language educators should strengthen exchanges and cooperation with global counterparts and continue to promote opening-up in the education sector to nurture more talents with good English proficiency and global competence, experts said at the 2021 Global English Education China Assembly, which has the theme “Innovation and Integration: New Perspectives of English Education in China”.
The three-day assembly, which opened on Friday in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, aims to promote cross-cultural understanding among English educators in China and enhance dialogue between China’s English-language teaching professionals and their peers worldwide on an international, professional and high-level communication platform.
The event is jointly hosted by China Daily and Shanghai International Studies University and organized by 21st Century English Education Media and the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China Hangzhou Municipal Committee.
Liu Weiling, deputy editor-in-chief of China Daily, said the assembly is of great significance as it is the first English-language education conference held after the celebration of the centenary of the founding of the CPC on July 1.
The Party and the country have always attached great importance to education development. As an integral part of the national education system, English-language education plays an indispensable role in building a high-quality education system and a powerful China through education, she said.
This year also marks the 40th anniversary of the founding of China Daily. The media group will take the 40th anniversary of its founding as a new starting point and bear in mind its duty to connect the country with the outside world and make new contributions to promoting exchanges and communication between China and the world, she said.
English-language educators should contribute more wisdom and strength in the development of China’s English-language education, guide young students to establish and practice core socialist values and help them devote themselves to building a community with a shared future for mankind, she added.
Chen Guomei, vice-chairman of the Hangzhou Municipal Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, said as the host city for the 19th Asian Games next year, Hangzhou is making great efforts in promoting internationalization and strengthening global communication.
It has launched an English-language newspaper, bilingual TV shows and English-language radio shows, and established sister city relations with 31 overseas cities, she said.
The assembly will further promote communication and exchanges between the domestic and international English education sectors and become a platform in telling Hangzhou’s story well and presenting a better view of China, she said.
Zha Mingjian, vice-president of Shanghai International Studies University, said English education in China serves as a bridge for China to better understand the world and vice versa, and an integral part of the overall national strategy.
As the country enters the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) period, the English-language education sector is responsible for further strengthening the link between China and other countries and making a contribution to the modernization of the education sector, he said.
Chinese English-language educators should continue to deepen communication with their peers in other countries and regions, to promote the country’s English education development and contribute China’s wisdom and plan to global English education development, he added.