MELBOURNE, Australia,
June 20 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice- President Xi Jinping on Sunday morning
opened Australia's first Chinese Medicine Confucius Institute at the
Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) in Melbourne.
The Confucius Institute is a
collaborative project between RMIT and the Nanjing University of Chinese
Medicine, supported by the Confucius Institute Headquarters in Beijing.
The institute is designed to promote
the study of Chinese culture and language, with a focus on Chinese
Medicine, one of the world's oldest and longest standing healthcare
systems tracing back more than 2,500 years.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, Xi
said the establishment of the institute is "another vital achievement"
for China and Australia in the field of people-to-people and cultural
exchange and cooperation.
The Chinese vice president said the
vital value of cultural and education exchange lies in the
heart-to-heart communication, noting that fruitful achievements have
been scored in the cultural exchange and cooperation between China and
Australia, despite different historical and cultural tradition.
Xi also spoke highly of the Chinese
medicine, saying it is the gem of ancient Chinese science, and it is
also a key to open the treasure of Chinese civilization.
Study of Chinese medicine is of
vital significance to enriching global health research and promote the
life science worldwide, he added.
As the RMIT Chinese Medicine
Confucius Institute integrates the traditional and modern Chinese
medicine study with Chinese language learning, Xi said such approach
would "open a new window for the Australian people to know the Chinese
culture," and build a "new bridge" linking the heart-to-heart
communication between Chinese and Australian peoples.
RMIT President Professor Margaret
Gardner said at the opening ceremony that the Chinese Medicine plays an
increasingly important role in global health.
"The Chinese Medicine Confucius Institute is a significant highlight in our long-term relationship with China," she said.
"Since 1993, RMIT has worked with
the Chinese Government and the World Health Organization to develop
education and research in the Asia Pacific region," Gardner said.
On Sunday morning, Xi visited the
headquarters of Telstra, a telecom giant of Australia and paid a trip to
a farm in the outskirts of Melbourne.
On Sunday afternoon, Xi and the Chinese delegation flew from Melbourne to Canberra, continuing his official visit to Australia.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/china/2010-06/20/c_13359367.htm
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