The opening ceremony for the 2024 Pacific Island Nations “Chinese Language + Maritime Skills” Training Program was held at QNU on the morning of September 2. The event was attended byLi Hongyin, Deputy Director of the China Maritime Safety Administration; Chen Guoquan, Deputy Director of the Foreign Affairs Office of Fujian Provincial People’s Government; Chen Kai, Director of Fujian Maritime Safety Administration; Chen Changping, President of QNU; and Huang Jiangkun, Vice President of QNU; Ruan Wei, Director of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) Asia Maritime Technology Cooperation Centre; Lin Chen, Director of Quanzhou Maritime Safety Administration; Ding Lianghui, Deputy Director of the General Office of Quanzhou Municipal People’s Government; Chen Junxuan, Deputy Director of Quanzhou Municipal Education Bureau; and Su Mingcheng, Chairman of Zhongquan International Economic & Technical Cooperation (Group) Co., Ltd. Thirteen participants from seven Pacific Island nations—Tonga, Cook Islands, Solomon Islands, Samoa, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, and Fiji—attended the ceremony, alongside QNU facultyand students.
During the ceremony, addresses were delivered by President Chen Changping, Deputy Director Li Hongyin, Deputy Director Chen Guoquan, Director Ruan Wei, and trainee representative Tuiaki Pauline, a maritime official from Tonga. President Chen presented the trainees with the university emblem, and Li Hongyin, Chen Guoquan, Chen Kai, and Chen Changping distributed learning kits to the trainees.
The training program was jointly organized by the China-Pacific Island Countries Poverty Alleviation and Cooperative Development Center, Foreign Affairs Office of Fujian Provincial People’s Government, and Fujian Maritime Safety Administration. Quanzhou Normal University and Quanzhou Maritime Safety Administration were the hosting institutions. Over the four-week program, participants would undertake courses in basic Chinese language, cultural experiences, maritime skills, and field visits to local ports. The itinerary also included maritime exchange activities in Putian, Pingtan, Xiamen, and Fuzhou. With a focus on the distinctive "Chinese Language +" model, QNU kept implementing training programs for Pacific Island Countries. This was the second session of such training since 2023.