ASEAN Media Delegation Visited Yunnan Minzu University Ruili International Vocational Education Training Base

On 27 October 2016, the ASEAN media delegation reporting in Ruili City of Yunnan Province visited Yunnan Minzu University Ruili International Vocational Education Training Base and its workshops.

Mr. Luo Hailin, Director of the Training Base, cited that Ruili is the largest border crossing between China and Myanmar, with 50,000 Myanmar citizens in the city.

Since 2014, Yunnan Minzu University, sponsored by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Education of China, set up seven China-ASEAN Education Training Centres in several cities along the border of Myanmar, Lao PDR, and Viet Nam which the Ruili Training Base being one of these bases. The Training Base offers four courses, namely, practical Chinese language, Chinese laws and regulations, vocational skills, and health and disease prevention, free of charge to Myanmar citizens who work and do businesses in Ruili. The Base had completed 45 courses since its inception and enrolled over 5,000 students. The Base has been widely welcomed by the Myanmar workers and relevant enterprises alike. It has indeed made significant contributions to promoting cross-border people-to-people exchanges as well as economic cooperation. In the near future, Yunnan Minzu University is currently planning to set up Ruili International Vocational College.

The ASEAN journalists raised many questions on the funding and daily operation of the Training Base and the employment prospects of its students.