The Consulate General of the People’s Republic of China in Cape Town held an online ceremony on Thursday, 27 August to launch the China-South Africa Health Science Scholarship. Consul General Lin Jing and Prof. Tyrone Pretorius, Rector and Vice-Chancellor of the University of the Western Cape (UWC), made remarks at the virtual ceremony. They both praised the enhanced solidarity and strengthened friendship between China and South Africa in the face of Covid-19.
The 100,000-yuan (R247,000 at the current exchange rate) scholarship is intended to encourage academic research and exchange in the health sciences and other China-South Africa collaborations. It is open to all UWC students and researchers in the fields of promoting China-South Africa cooperation, with a special focus on community health care, joint traditional African and Chinese medicine research and existing medical research in coronavirus.
In his speech, Consul General Lin Jing describes the scholarship as evidence of the camaraderie and mutual support of China and South Africa in the fight against the pandemic, and a token of China’s commitment to enhanced China-Africa cooperation on public health, economic reopening and people’s livelihood. It is also a special gift in celebration of the 60th anniversary of the founding of UWC. He hopes that the scholarship will benefit more promising students and enhance people-to-people exchanges between the two countries.
Prof. Pretorius says the university community is proud of its relationship with China and expresses his appreciation of the scholarship. He praises the scholarship as a fruit of the “golden harvest season” of good relations between the two countries. It represents a significant and meaningful realization of UWC’s vision to have a mature and growing network of active local and international partnerships, and will greatly benefit UWC students in their learning and research endeavours.