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China, UP open new book center in PH

By Joyce Ann L. Rocamora

March 18, 2019, 8:03 pm

MANILA -- The Chinese Embassy and the University of the Philippines on Monday launched the first "China Book Center" at the UP Asian Center in Diliman, Quezon City.

The newly-launched resource center in UP is the first of its kind solely dedicated to one Asian country, said Dr. Joefe Santarita, dean of the UP Asian Center Dean.

Chinese Embassy's Chargé d' Affaires Tan Qingsheng expressed optimism that the opening of a Chinese Book Center in UP would promote "good understanding" of China among Filipino students.

"A lot of young people in the Philippines have never been to China. Their knowledge of China is limited or sometimes even biased under the influence of Western media," he said in a speech during the opening ceremony.

"I hope the China Book center will provide (them) with a window to a complete picture of China and give (them) an insight of China’s history, culture, and development," he added, as he urged more Filipino students to serve as "ambassadors of friendship and cooperation" between China and the Philippines.

The book center, located at the 2nd floor of GT-Toyota Asian Cultural Center in Quezon City, houses at least 1,000 learning materials in English language, including classical texts and contemporary projects in China.

"This addition would most definitely give the students more materials, especially our China majors. This would also give them opportunity to engage the classical texts," Santarita said in an interview with the Philippine News Agency.

He said the Chinese Embassy in Manila initially asked the Asian Center if it is willing to accept a donation of around 100 to 200 Chinese books last year.

With the library expansion project, the two parties eventually came up with the book center project.

"This is our intention because we believe that the Asian Center Library is the eye to the world and we want to encourage more people to come and do research. The library is much better right now because of this," Santarita added. (PNA)

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