Khanna Baty, Secretary of Mauritian Department of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and International Trade, visited China Foreign Affairs University (CFAU) on May 15th, 2017, accompanied by Li Miaoguang, Mauritian Ambassador to China. Professor Qin Yaqing, president of CFAU, in the company of Sun Gongyi, China’s Ambassador to Mauritius, Wang Fan, vice president of CFAU, Wu Xiaoping, director of the CFAU Foreign Affairs Office, Li Dan, director of the Institute of African Studies (IAS), and Zhang Cuizhen, deputy director of IAS, met with the Secretary and her delegation.

President Qin first extended a warm welcome to Ms. Khanna Batyand and her delegation, and then gave an introduction to CFAU, emphasizing the various professional trainings it has provided for diplomats from China and other countries. Ms. Khanna Baty highly praised the ongoing Belt and Road Forum (BRF) in Beijing, and briefed the audience on the preparation of the Mauritian Foreign Affairs (MFAI) Institute, which she hopes will provide an opportunity for enhancing exchanges and cooperation between the two universities. Qin said that he would like to see close cooperation between CFAU and MFAI, such as arranging for CFAU teachers to teach official document writing, public diplomacy, international relations, and other courses in Mauritius. He also welcomed Mauritian diplomats to take long-term courses on Chinese language and culture, and to join related training programs and symposiums at CFAU.

At the end of the meeting, Prof. Qin and Ms. Khanna were very pleased to reach a consensus on the importance of cooperation, and expressed that they hope to sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the two universities as soon as possible.