China, Samoa agree to deepen cooperation in education, personnel training

China and Samoa have agreed to strengthen cooperation in education and personnel training as Samoan Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mata'afa is on an official visit to China from Nov. 20 to 28.

On Wednesday morning, Mata'afa landed in Shanghai and traveled by high-speed train to the city of Taizhou in east China's Jiangsu Province, where she officially started her nine-day visit.

In the afternoon, the prime minister stopped at the Taizhou Polytechnic College where she watched the demonstration of several practical training programs. Some of the hands-on skills will feature in the college's planned cooperation with Samoa, a small island country in the South Pacific Ocean.

Earlier this year, the college sent some representatives to Samoa to finalize plans for providing vocational training programs tailored to local people's needs. This underlines the two sides' commitment to long-term cooperation in the educational sector.

During an evening signing ceremony, the Taizhou Polytechnic College and the National University of Samoa officially announced the establishment of the China-Samoa Vocational Skills Training Center.

"I think it is a significant approach to education. Sometimes teaching institutions are not necessarily up to date, but I think this way of work that was demonstrated today and your polytechnic [training] is very significant. It's a model that we would like to emulate in Samoa, and we value the association that we have now made with the institution," the Samoan prime minister said in an interview with China Global Television Network. "We have reached relevant cooperation with the Samoan government on providing training the country's public servants in the field of information technology. We have selected our best faculty members, who will soon leave for Samoa to work on a two-month rotating basis," said Zhang Tao, secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Committee of the Taizhou Polytechnic College.

Samoa was one of the first Pacific island countries to establish diplomatic relations with China, and next year will mark the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries.

China, Samoa agree to deepen cooperation in education, personnel training

Panchen Erdeni Chos-kyi rGyal-po on Nov 26 completed a tour of southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region lasting five months, during which he performed regular duties, Buddhist rituals and social activities.

Panchen Erdeni Chos-kyi rGyal-po, more commonly known as Panchen Rinpoche, flew to the regional capital Lhasa from northwest China's Qinghai Province on June 25.

From June 27 to Sept 9, Panchen Rinpoche performed his duties as the president of the Xizang branch of the Buddhist Association of China, and carried out Buddhist rituals and social activities in the cities of Lhasa, Nagqu and Nyingchi.

From Sept 11 to Nov 25, Panchen Rinpoche carried out a series of Buddhist rituals and social activities in the city of Xigaze, and presided over a meeting of the council of the Xizang branch of the Buddhist Association of China.

During his five-month tour in Xizang, Panchen Rinpoche performed head-touching rituals for nearly 70,000 monks and believers.

Panchen Rinpoche is a member of the Standing Committee of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, the country's top political advisory body. He is also vice president of the Buddhist Association of China.

Panchen Rinpoche concludes tour in Xizang