HE Mr. Wang Xinshi, Ambassador of China to Iceland, attended the opening ceremony of the Center of Asian Studies of the University of Akureyri on December 16th. In his speech, Ambassador Wang, on behalf of the Embassy of the P.R. China in Iceland, congratulated the launching of the project and thanked all the friends for their continuous support for and participation into exchanges and cooperation in fields of education between China and Iceland. The Ambassador said that the China National Office for Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language (NOCFL) presented 1000 Chinese books to the University of Akureyri and sent Mrs. Ruan Yongmei, Associate Professor of the University of Ningbo of China, to Akureyri to assist in teaching the Chinese language and culture. This cooperation is the first one of its kind in exchanges and cooperation in fields of education between the two countries. The Ambassador believed that the achievements made in fields of education would undoubtedly futher promote mutual understanding between the two peoples, help to enlarge the economic and trade relations and deepen the friendly and mutually beneficial cooperation in various fields between China and Iceland.
Icelandic dignities, such as HE Mr. Olafur Ragnar Grimsson, President of Iceland, HE Mrs. Valgerdur Sverrisdottir, Minister of Industry and Commerce of Iceland, HE Mr. Olafur Egilsson, Ambasador of Iceland to China 1998-2002, Mrs. Kristin Ingolfsdottir, Rector of the University of Iceland, etc., attended the opening ceremony. Mr. Ragnar Baldursson, Counsellor of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Iceland, gave a speech on the Chinese philosophy at the ceremony.
