Chinese Government Awards 25 Scholarships to Tongan Students in 2015 ^Featured

H.E. Ambassador Huang and Hon. Lord Tu'ivakano presented the award letter to 25 Tongan students including 18 for their bachelor degree, 6 for master and 1 for doctor. They will start the study in the coming September.

In his welcome remarks, H.E. Ambassador Huang congratulated all the students and said education is fundamental for development of a country. Both China and Tonga have the good tradition of paying great importance to education. Since China and Tonga established diplomatic relations in 1998, the cooperation in education sector is an integral part of our relations. In the past years, China already provide more than 170 scholarships to Tongan students.

H.E. Ambassador Huang is quite optimistic about the future China-Tonga education cooperation and mentioned that, last November, Chinese President Xi Jinping met with Hon. Lord Tu'ivakano and other leaders from Pacific Island Countries in Nadi. During the meeting, President Xi announced that in the coming 5 years, China will provide 2000 scholarships and 5000 training opportunities to PICs.

Hon. Lord Tu'ivakano said during the ceremony that Tonga is most appreciative especially those parents whose children will have a scholarship and will no doubt that it is the future investment for them, but most importantly Tonga will continue to have a supply of qualified people to serve the country in all aspects of its development.

Mme. Sesilia Latu, Former First Secretary of Tongan Embassy in China and Ms. Kilisitina Puleiku, the first Tongan PhD graduate from China also shared their experience in China and give the new students some suggestions for their future study.

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