As millions of people around the world are gearing up to celebrate the Chinese New Year, Chinese-language learning Afghan students have come together here to share the joy and excitement of their neighboring folk.
Held at the Avicenna Language Institute of the private Ibn-Sina University in Kabul, the event was the first-ever Chinese Spring Festival celebratory ceremony to take place in an Afghan private university.
“This is the first time Chinese Spring Festival has been celebrated in a private educational institute in Kabul. But more efforts are needed to improve bilateral ties between the two nations,” Baqer Niazi, Director of Ibn-Sina University Language Institute, told the audience Wednesday.
“Today’s celebration with no doubt has become a platform for cultural exchange between China and Afghanistan,” he said.
A contest between two groups of students presenting articles in Mandarin and singing a Chinese song was among the various performances during the celebration.
“My message to the Chinese people is to have a very good New Year, a successful New Year,” Niazi told Xinhua.
Praising the celebration, Niazi said that Afghanistan has received a lot of Chinese investment over the past 17 years and the two nations have enjoyed improved and stronger relations than at any other time in the past.
“Chinese people are very successful from the perspectives of business and agriculture. Afghans can learn a lot from our Chinese friends. In the past, the language barrier had been a challenge for Afghans who wanted to visit China for business or education, but now, it is not a problem anymore,” he said.
