An elite private school in Pakistan announced Monday it will open Chinese language classes, the first of its kind, in the private education sector in a country where people have an increasing interest in Chinese language and culture.

The Roots School System of Pakistan, in collaboration with the Pakistan-China Institute, has started regular Chinese classes in the academic curriculum for students. At the inauguration ceremony, the institute also launched an official website for a monthly E- magazine, Nihao-Salam, to highlight the basic facets of Pakistan- China ties.

School managers said that by starting regular Chinese language classes at primary level they hope to enable the young generation of Pakistan to get a closer interaction with the ways and culture of Chinese people by removing the language barriers.

Students of the school hummed songs and performed upon Chinese and Pakistani music to welcome the cultural values of both brotherly countries.

Addressing the ceremony, Chairman of Pakistan-China Institute Mushahid Hussain Syed said that the inauguration of Chinese classes at private school would further enhance the cultural and social relations between the peoples of the two neighbors.

"As the year 2011 marks the 60-year long friendship of Pakistan and China, we will celebrate the year at the leadership, business and people-to-people levels," he said.

In recent years, the culture exchanges between Pakistan and China have been boosted and yielded well. In Pakistan, Chinese language classes have been set up in the Islamabad Confucius Institute, the National University of Modern Languages and a number of public high schools.

Talking to Xinhua, the visiting vice minister of the International Department of Chinese Communist Party, Ai Ping, said that the Pakistan-China friendship is growing day by day and China would keep playing its role in the development of Pakistan.

"As language is a bridge for culture, the youth of both countries would be interlinked through culture, education and in different fields," he said.

(Xinhua News Agency February 22, 2011)