On February 23, 2023, Zhou Yan, Member of the Standing Committee of the Party Committee and Vice President of our school, led a team to Tibet Summit Resources Co., Ltd. (Tibet Summit) for surveys and symposiums on the project of Argentina Lithium-Potassium Chinese Workshop. Vice President and Chairman of Tibet Summit Resources Co., Ltd. Zhang Jieyuan, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee and Deputy Director of China Nonferrous Metal Industry Human Resource Center (CNMIHR)Song Kai, Special Assistant to the President of Tibet Summit andPresident of Tibet Summit Argentina Lithium-Potassium Co. Ltd. Mao Yuankai, as well as the relevant leaders and personnel from the International Department of Beijing Polytechnic College, attended the symposium.

In June 2022, with the help of CNMIHR, our school and Argentina Lithium-Potassium Co., Ltd. jointly applied for the“Chinese Workshop” project of the Center for Language Education and Cooperation of the Ministry of Education, and successfully obtained the approval of the first “Chinese workshop” in South America - Argentina Lithium-Potassium Chinese Workshop. The Workshop aims to improve the Chinese proficiency and vocational skills of local employees of enterprises in Argentina, help with the development of local enterprises, give full play to the role of international Chinese education and vocational education in serving international production capacity cooperation, promote the win-win results of economy in China and Argentina, and enhance the people-to-people exchanges and friendly cooperation between the two peoples. At the end of 2022, the two sides held the first phase of Chinese language and culture training project for 93 local employees of enterprises in Argentina,which was the first “Chinese+TVET” training projectheld by our school in Latin America, as well as the first of such training in Argentina. Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of the Center for Language Education and Cooperation of the Ministry of EducationYu Tianqi, Deputy Director of Beijing Municipal Education CommissionSun Qijun, Commercial Counselor of the Chinese Embassy in ArgentinaXia Diya, Minister of Economic and Public Services in Salta of ArgentinaRoberto Dib Ashur, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee and President of Beijing Polytechnic CollegeAn Jiangying, President of COPAIPA in SaltaFelipe Biella, Secretary of the Department of Education in Salta Diego López Morillo, President of Argentina Lithium-Potassium Co. Ltd. Mao Yuankai and other leaders attended the opening ceremony of class and witnessed the launch of the project. At present, the first phase of training has been successfully concluded, which has been unanimously praised and highly recognized by Argentine students. Through this training, on the one hand, students mastered the basic expressions of Chinese, which laid a language foundation for a series of subsequent teaching activities;on the other hand, the introduction of traditional Chinese culture enhanced local residents’ understanding of Chinese culture and China’s development concept, and promoted people-to-people exchanges between China and Argentina.

During the meeting, the two sides summarized the project achievements and progress of ArgentinaLithium-Potassium Chinese Workshop, and thoroughly discussed the future development plan of ArgentinaLithium-Potassium Chinese Workshop. With the support of the Center for Language Education and Cooperation of the Ministry of Education, the two sides of school and enterprise will continue to promote the practical cooperation in the selection and appointment of teachers and volunteers, overseas “Chinese+TVET” training, training of international students, and training of Argentine employees of enterprises in China. President Zhang Jieyuan said that the company would spare no effort to implement corporate responsibility and provide strong support and guarantee for the operation of Chinese Workshop. Meanwhile, he thanked the Center for Language Education and Cooperation of the Ministry of Education and the school for their support to the in-depth and sustainable development of enterprises in the local area. Vice President Zhou Yan said that the school had made fruitful achievements in overseas education and accumulated rich experience in “going global”. Moreover, as the first “Chinese+TVET” education practice and research base for higher vocational colleges of the Center for Language Education and Cooperation of the Ministry of Education, the schoolcould rely on the platform of the Northern School-Enterprise Cooperation Mechanism Committee of the base to learn from others and use all advantages of the member schools of the base, so as todo a good job in the construction of Argentina Lithium-Potassium Chinese Workshop, and strive to make Argentina Lithium-Potassium Chinese Workshop a national benchmark and model.

At the meeting, the Argentine parties were also contacted on the spot. President of Argentina Lithium-Potassium Co. Ltd. Mao Yuankai and Vice President of our school Zhou Yan delivered speeches. President Mao Yuankai indicated that the early activities held by the Chinese Workshop in 2022 were unanimously recognized and welcomed by the local government and all walks of life. He encouraged the students to actively participate in the upcoming second phase of training from the Chinese Workshop, master the Chinese language and vocational skills, and work together with the company to help the employment and economic development of the local residents of Salta and improve the local living standards. Vice President Zhou Yan said in her speech that the schoolwould send the best teachers to Argentina and receive Argentineemployees of enterprises for training in China, so as to help local employees in Salta to learn Chinese and relevant vocational skills, serve the local economic and social development of Salta, promote the exchanges and cooperation between China and Argentina and deepen the friendship between the two countries.

Representative of Argentine Community Relations Ms. Moira, Academic Affairs Secretary of the Education Department in Salta Mr. Diego, Representative of the Association of Engineers in Salta Ms. Valeria, Argentine Regional Manager of Tibet Summit Ms. Paula, Vice President of Tibet Summit and Project Leader in Argentina Mr. Xu Yunfeng, respectively made wonderful speeches. They all believed that the establishment of Argentina Lithium-Potassium Chinese Workshop could greatly promote the development of local economy and society, promote local employment and improve local people’s livelihood. Hua Anna, the student representative of the first phase of the Chinese Workshop, talked about the experience and harvest during the first phase of training. She said that the first phase of the Chinese language and culture training activity was a wonderful experience, and now she could conduct simple communication in Chinese. On behalf of the students, she thanked all teachers and all parties for their efforts, and looked forward to the second phase of training activity. Mr. Zhang Jieyuan, President of Tibet Summit, made a concluding speech on the meeting. He hoped that the Chinese Workshop could become a bridge connecting China with the distant Pune Plateau, and all parties could jointly make positive contributions to people-to-people exchanges under the Belt and Road Initiative and China-Argentina friendship.

Language is an important way for people to understand each other, reach empathy, achieve win-win development and build a community with a shared future for mankind. The training in technical skills is an important approach to cultivate talents and enhance cooperation. In the future, relying on projects such as “Chinese Workshop”, the government, school, industry and enterprise will work together to cultivate more talents with “Chinese+TVET”, which will provide strong driving force for the high-quality development of the “Belt and Road Initiative”.