The Center for Iranian Cultural Studies inaugurated in foreign languages Studies University in the city of Xi"an in China.

According to the Public Relations Office of the Islamic Culture and Relations Organization (ICRO), the opening ceremony was held with the attendance of Jiang Yajun, Vice President of the Foreign Languages Studies University of Xi"an and Mohamad Almasieh, Iranʼs cultural attaché in China and also a number of Persian language professors and officials from the department of Eastern languages. Jiang Yajun said in his speech: "the foreign languages Studies University in the city of Xi"an is among the top four foreign languages universities in China which was founded in 1952 and now, after 65 years, is a comprehensive university where Foreign Languages, Social Sciences, Management are taught and conducts researches in these fields."

He also mentioned that China is Iranʼs number one trade partner and referred to the One Belt and One Road initiative and said that the university, considering its international status, has made participation in this project its agenda.

He said that the center for Iranian cultural studies was founded to encourage education and research and continued: "so far we have had two groups of graduates in Persian language and their employment situation is satisfactory."

He also expressed hope that the department of Eastern languages and culture could create an appropriate schedule for improvements in the Persian language education and research of Iranian culture and that the cultural office of Iranʼs embassy would help by facilitating sending students to Iran and making cooperation between this university and Iranian universities.

Iran"s cultural attaché cherished the foundation of Iranian Studies Center and said that the city of Xi"an which was the starting point of the ancient Silk Road used to be a symbol of friendship between Iran and China in ancient times.

"The first cities to sign a sisterhood agreement after the Islamic revolution were the two historical cities of Isfahan and Xi"an," he added.

Iranʼs cultural attaché referred to the Silk Road project and said: "in the course of history relations between governments used to be based on competition and rivalry and the ancient Silk Road was among few things that made friendly relationship between countries though transfer of goods, culture, capita and exchange of manpower. The modern Silk Road which is Chinaʼs initiative has the same approach and since Iran, like in ancient times, has an important role in the projectʼs success has announced that it would have the appropriate participation."

Almasieh also made some remarks on the Persian language. "Persian language shined bright on the ancient Silk Road with its thousands year old history and its sweet literature and great literati and spread from East to West. The fact that Persian was the official language of Ottoman government and in India and the Yuan government in China had a Persian translation office is an indication of the respect the nations along the route of the Silk Road had for Persian language. In modern days also, Persian with hundreds of millions speaker is the second language of the Muslim world," he said.

He also said about Iran and China relationship: "besides historical relations, in modern days the two countries relations in different fields especially in cultural matters has been not only satisfactory but also inspiring. After the Islamic revolution, Iran and China have signed a cultural agreement and ever since have signed eight different agreements and cooperated in a variety of cultural matters."

He also added: "most cultural divisions of both countries have an annual exchange program and by sending delegations of experts and officials or artists lay the groundwork for cooperation. The economic exchanges between the two countries has increased significantly in the past decade and reached to more than 30 billion Euros."

"Iran and China considering their common cultural features in the international arena, have common approaches to matters such as; justice, respecting all nations and cultures, opposing extremism and violence," he added.

Iranʼs cultural attaché at the end cherished the foundation of Iranʼs room in Xi"an Foreign Languages Studies University and said: "it is admirable that only five years from the beginning of the Persian field of study, the Center for Iranian Cultural Studies is inaugurated."

The sign of the Center for Iranian cultural studies was also revealed in the ceremony. Also a few artistic and iranology books were donated to the center by the Cultural Office of Iran"s embassy.

It is worth mentioning that the Foreign Languages Studies University of Xi"an has 20000 students and around 1000 lecturers and personnel. Persian language learnings have been started in 2012 and have admitted 30 students every year.