The Minister of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan Sayasat Nurbek met with the President of the Beijing Language and Culture University Duan Peng. The delegation also included Director of the Department of International Cooperation and Exchanges Dong Chuan, Director of the Department of Foreign Students Ma Xiaolei and Deputy Director of the Department of International Education Wang Liang.

The main topic of the meeting was the discussion of the opening of the PUYAK branch in Astana. The agenda included legal and financial aspects, the branch registration process, academic programs and student recruitment.

Minister Sayasat Nurbek noted that the ministry fully supports the opening of the branch:

“Cooperation between Kazakhstan and China in the field of higher education is very active. This is confirmed by organized meetings and negotiations at a high level. In December 2023, I met with the Deputy Minister of Education of the People's Republic of China, Mr. Sun Yao, and in April 2024, with the Minister of Education of the People's Republic of China, Mr. Huai Jinpeng. The Chinese side expressed interest in strengthening cooperation in personnel training, especially Chinese language teachers. We fully support the opening of a branch of Beijing Language and Culture University on the basis of Astana International University.”

For a constructive dialogue, the minister proposed to consider the possibility of allocating PUYAK grants for the branch in Astana through the scholarship program of the Government of the People's Republic of China and the implementation of agreements on the training of Chinese language teachers within the walls of the branch of Peking University.

At the end of the meeting, the participants expressed their readiness for further fruitful cooperation and outlining the next steps for the successful opening of the PUYAK branch in Astana.

Beijing Language and Culture University has a long history, large scale and rich teaching resources in international teaching of Chinese language and culture. Founded in 1962, the university has trained more than 160 thousand foreign students from 176 countries and regions of the world. Many graduates have become famous in academic, political and business fields. Among the famous personalities who studied the language at PUYAK is the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.

gov.kz