The opening ceremony of the "Language + Art" Joint Training Program for International Students and the signing ceremony for the related cooperation agreement were held in Beijing on Sept 17.

Co-developed by Beijing International Studies University (BISU) and the National Academy of Chinese Theatre Arts (NACTA), this joint program is a flagship initiative under the "Study in Beijing" brand.

Leaders of BISU and NACTA sign a cooperation agreement.

BISU is rooted in foreign language education with distinctive strengths in tourism, while NACTA is known as a cradle of China's opera talent, said Ji Jinbiao, deputy secretary of the CPC BISU Committee and the university's president, adding that the joint program represents a meaningful and innovative approach to education.

Ji encouraged the students to make the most of the opportunity, build a solid foundation in both language and art, serve as messengers of cultural exchange between China and other countries, and study diligently.

Yin Xiaodong, deputy secretary of the CPC NACTA Committee and NACTA's president, said that NACTA has long regarded carrying forward Chinese opera and culture as its mission.

He described the partnership as an important step that moves "language + art" from individual course experiments to systematic training. He encouraged the students to acquire both the "language key" to China and the "cultural code" for understanding it, so as to become young talents proficient in Chinese, fond of Chinese opera and open to the world.

Drawing on BISU's established language teaching and intercultural education system and NACTA's strengths in opera art, arts management, and cultural communication, the program is the only one of its kind in China to use immersive experiences of traditional Chinese art as a means of enhancing Chinese-language teaching for international students.

In addition to language courses, NACTA has designed modules in arts management and cultural communication, as well as in opera appreciation and hands-on experience, forming an integrated training chain that combines lectures, appreciation, practice, and performance. Art courses are taught in both Chinese and English.

Performers present a Peking Opera medley.

Its first cohort of 50 students comes from Russia, Kazakhstan, Cambodia, Samoa, El Salvador and other countries and regions.