Ghana on Saturday celebrated the 10th anniversary of the founding of the first overseas Confucius Institute, with a colorful ceremony held at the University of Ghana in Accra.
Confucius Institute is an education and cultural exchange organization set up by Hanban of China in all parts of the world, to spread Chinese language teaching and Chinese culture.
The Confucius Institute in the University of Ghana was established and officially inaugurated on May 22, 2013 and it's the first of the kind in Ghana.
Saturday's ceremony attracted a large number of Chinese community in Ghana as well as scores of Ghanaian university students and the general public.
The program started off with a performance on the Chinese Lion Dance followed by spectacular performances of traditional Chinese acrobatics, song of Jasmine, Tai Chi and a host of others.
The typical and treasured Chinese culture and traditions were on display much to the satisfaction of the viewing public.
Chinese Ambassador to Ghana Sun Baohong said cultural exchange is one of the three cornerstones of the new-type China-Africa strategic partnership.
She said China will work with the Ghanaian side, learn from each other, and on the basis of inheriting fine traditions and absorbing the essence of the whole human civilization, create culture characterized by both times and nationalities to win the respect and recognition of the world.
"Confucius Institute belongs to China, but more importantly, it belongs to the world. It is this esteemed institute's destiny to write a brilliant chapter in the annals of promoting world peace and cultural diversity," she said.
The director of the Confucius Institute at the University of Ghana, Mei Meilian, said the objective of setting up the Confucius Institute in Ghana was to help Ghanaians to learn Chinese language, enjoy Chinese culture and help to develop and improve the China- Ghana friendship.
"I am looking forward to having more and more Chinese learners here and having more and more Ghanaian friends to learn Chinese and having them to improve their lives," she said.
"With more Ghanaian people to learn Chinese, I am sure they will understand Chinese people and understand Chinese culture and Chinese way of thinking better then the Chinese people and Ghanaian people can communicate better and certainly this will let improve the relationship or friendship between the two countries," she told Xinhua in an interview.
The head of the Department of Modern Languages at the University of Ghana, Josephine Dzahene-Quarshie, said the institute would open Chinese language courses in elementary school affiliated to the University of Ghana and Ghana language institutions.
This will provide Ghanaian kids the opportunity to experience Chinese culture from an early age.
"The best age to learn a language is before six years, that is the ideal age at which a language can be acquired quickly. If they start learning it now, by the time reach Junior High School they will be experts in the Chinese language," she said.
"It is good to learn a language, much more Chinese which is spoken by over one billion people all over the world," she told Xinhua.
The HSK (Chinese Proficiency Test) Center in Ghana was unveiled at the ceremony, to enable Ghanaian students to apply for Chinese government scholarships.
Starting from scratch, the Confucius Institute has developed from a small to a large number with its education scale expanding and the quality of teaching improving by the day.
So far, in cooperation with 122 countries and regions, China has opened 457 Confucius Institutes and 707 Confucius classrooms, and now there are about 150 million foreigners learning Chinese around the world.
