The China-Cameroon Parliamentary friendship Group yesterday shared experiences with Chinese of the institute.

Members of the China-Cameroon friendly group at the National Assembly yesterday June 22, 2015, visited the Confucius Institute of the University of Yaounde II hosted by the International Relations Institute of Cameroon (IRIC).

The visit provided the opportunity for the Parliamentary group to have an idea of how the Confucius Institute functions as well as cultural sharing between Cameroonians studying the Chinese language and their mentors.

The MPs of the Group led by Hon. Gaston Koumba were drilled by a dance group of Chinese music and beats before being tutored briefly on the basic salutations in the Chinese language. Before the guided tour of the Institute, the Director of the Confucius Institute, Yu Guoyang explained that the learning of Chinese language in Cameroon began in 1996 and in 2000 following the visit of the then Chinese President Hao Jin Tao, the Confucius Institute was created in Yaounde.

Since then, remarkable progress, he said, has been made in terms of the number of Cameroonians students who have studied Chinese language and scholarships awarded for further studies in China.

He said about 8,000 Cameroonians have been taught the Chinese language over the past years. There is a growing demand for the Chinese language reason why some 20 teaching centres of Chinese language have been created in the country. The visit was also characterised by a question and answer session between the MPs and the officials of the Confucius Institute.

The MPs expressed the need for Cameroonian local languages to also be taught in China as well as the need for subjects such as mathematics and technology to also be taught in the institute. The visit was also attended by the Director of IRIC.