2020 Sino-Philippines Educational Exchange Seminar highlights deepening ties and friendship through online English education
2020 Sino-Philippines Educational Exchange Seminar highlights deepening ties and friendship through online English education
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In celebration of the 45th anniversary of the founding of bilateral relations between China and the Philippines, the Beijing-based leading online English education platform 51Talkhosted the 2020 Sino-Philippines Educational Exchange Seminar in Beijing, China on October 16, which was broadcast via livestream. Graced by the two countries’ diplomats, education officials and 51Talk representatives, the eventaimed to strengthen and develop educational exchange and cooperation between the two countries.
At the seminar, 51Talk alsomanaged to break the Guinness World Records of the “largest online video album of people waving.”
E. Huang Xilian, Chinese ambassador to the Philippines, delivered a keynote speech and emphasized the people-to-people exchanges and cooperation between China and the Philippines.
“China's emerging industries such as online education during the pandemic have catalyzed a new win-win cooperation model for China and the Philippines. On the one hand, it has helped China's distance education, and on the other hand, it has provided a large number of online job opportunities for the Filipino people,” said Ambassador Huang.
“Under the strategic guidance of President Xi Jinping and President Duterte, China-Philippines relations have entered a ‘new golden age,’ and the cooperation in various fields between the two countries has achieved fruitful results,” he added.
“In addition, as a well-known online English education company in China, 51Talk has fully tapped the talent of the Philippines in the past several years. With the help of online digital technology, 51Talk has opened a window for thousands of Chinese children to communicate withforeign teachers worldwide, and it has created a worthwhile online platform for China-Philippines educational cooperation.”
Meanwhile, Philippine Ambassador to China H.E. Jose Santiago Sta. Romana shared how learning a language exposes someone to new and exciting worlds, and helps broaden perspectives while enriching experiences.
“Learning a language helps bridge the present embodied by our youth to a future that is full of opportunities for their personal development—that of their families and their communities,” said Ambassador Sta. Romana.
“I'm very pleased that 51Talk is giving an opportunity to 20,000 competent Filipino educators to take part in nurturing the eagerness of nearly 300,000 young Chinese people to learn the English language. This educational exchange, albeit virtual, provides an enabling environment for cultural exchange between Filipinos and the Chinese. As the demand for online learning brought about by the new normalsurges in China, it is my hope that more doors will be opened up for more and more Filipino educators in the same mutually beneficial manner,” added Ambassador Sta. Romana.
The program featured 51Talk’s outstanding Chinese students who demonstrated their excellent English communication skills honed by 51Talk’s online English teachers based in the Philippines. Shown in the photo is XuXuanyu, a 51Talk student in China, and 51Talk teacher Lyndon Bacon from the Philippines.
Jack Huang, CEO and co-founder of 51Talk, talked about the role of the online educational platform in promoting bilateral cooperation and exchanges between China and the Philippines.
“The year 2020 marks the 45th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the Philippines. Under the guidance of the two countries’ presidents, the support to the Belt and Road Initiative to synergize development strategieshas been strengthened. Because of this, the Sino-Philippines relations have grown ever more vibrant, with fruitful cooperation outcomes in various fields, particularly on the education front. And we at 51Talk are very happy to have contributed to strengthening the ties of our two countries through online education,” said Mr. Huang in his speech.
In May of this year, 51Talk donated 5.25 million pesos worth of medical equipment and supplies to several hospitals in the Philippines to aid in their efforts to combat COVID-19. As the pandemic caused economic fallout and the loss of millions of jobs, 51Talk launched several campaigns to spread awareness of the livelihood opportunities available in the platform to attract 30,000 online English teachers.
“Through 51Talk, nowadays, Filipino online teachers are well-received among Chinese families. Chinese parents understand that Filipinos share their roots from Asia and that they have a better understanding of Chinese culture which helps them in teaching Chinese kids effectively,” added Mr. Huang.