Ji Jinbiao, secretary of the Beijing International Studies University’s Party Committee and president of the university, attended the opening ceremony of a seminar on Chinese-Moroccan tourism communication and cooperation by video on May 5, Moroccan local time.

Present Ji Jinbiao delivers a speech

The activity, jointly held by the Confucius Institute of the Mohammed V University and the China Cultural Center in Rabat, included the opening ceremony, as well as the seminar on Chinese-Moroccan tourism communication and cooperation and the photo exhibition of Chinese and Moroccan tourism.

Li Changlin, the Chinese ambassador to Morocco, delivers a speech

Ji expressed his congratulations on the activity during his speech at the opening ceremony. He said that the tourism cooperation between China and Morocco has broad development prospects. The strengthening of the training of talents specialized in the Chinese language and tourism in Morocco is an important guarantee to help deepen Chinese-Moroccan tourism cooperation. To encourage communication and cooperation between BISU and the relevant parties of Morocco, Ji put forward suggestions to help strengthen cooperative training for tourist talents, enhance the joint building of tourism majors in universities and to improve the capability of universities in China and Morocco servicing tourism. Ji expected the seminar to provide more suggestions to benefit the training of tourist talents in China and Morocco, as well as encourage the mutual promotion of quality resources and development opportunities.

The President of Ibn Zohr University gives a speech

Li Changlin, the Chinese ambassador to Morocco, attended the activity. Li noted that the developments in tourism have become an important engine to drive the all-round development of the friendly relationship between China and Morocco. This seminar is remarkable for resuming and promoting tourism communication and cooperation between the two countries in the post-pandemic era.

The President of the Regional Council of Tourism of Agadir Souss Massa gives a speech

Li stressed that the Chinese language training project for Moroccan guides meets the needs of local tourism for Chinese language talents, which will energetically push forward the communication and cooperation in tourism field of both countries. He also added that the Chinese Embassy in Morocco is willing to support the Confucius Institute of the  Mohammed V University as a platform to carry out communication and cooperation in the tourism field between China and Morocco.

 Li Ning gives a speech at the seminar

Abdelaziz Bendo  , president of Ibn Zohr University, spoke highly of the role of the Confucius Institute of the Mohammed V University in promoting Chinese language teaching at Ibn Zohr University. He said he hoped Ibn Zohr University and BISU would establish a cooperative relationship between by the end of the seminar.

Rachid Dahmaz, President of the Regional Council of Tourism of Agadir Souss Massa, said that China is a world tourism country full of vitality. Agadir is eager to strengthen cooperation with tourist departments in China in the areas of tourist resource promotion and tourist project development with the support of the Chinese embassy and the Confucius Institute.

The site of seminar

At the seminar, 11 participants held an in-depth discussion on Chinese-Moroccan tourism cooperation, the training of Chinese language talents in the Moroccan tourism industry and the improvement of services provided to Chinese tourists by Moroccan tourism industry. Li Ning, Chinese president of the Confucius Institute of the  Mohammed V University, introduced the ways of Chinese language training, the content of courses, the period of training, Chinese proficiency assessment and the relevant information of the Chinese language training project provided by the Confucius Institute for Moroccan tourism practitioners.

The photo exhibition of Chinese-Moroccan tourism displayed the distinctive tourist resources of the two countries, as well as the huge cooperative potential of their tourism industry.

The series of activities were well-received by the local people and reported on by many media outlets in Morocco.

The site of the photo exhibition

The Confucius Institute of the  Mohammed V University is the first Confucius Institute in Africa. With an investment of $1.2 million, the demonstration building of the Confucius Institute was completed in March 2022, covering an area of 2,300 square meters, which provides outstanding hardware conditions for the development of the Confucius Institute.

The demonstration building

The Confucius Institute of the Mohammed V University  is developing the features of “Chinese language plus tourism” integrated with the advantages of the tourism major of BISU and  the characteristics of the tourist economy of Morocco.

From 2022, it plans to hold a series of activities on the theme of "Chinese-Moroccan tourism communication and Cooperation" across various tourist cities that have teaching schools of the Confucius Institute. This activity is the first in a series of activities.