Educational authorities from Kazakhstan and North China's Tianjin signed cooperation agreements on May 18, in Tianjin, to build a Luban Workshop in Kazakhstan, on the occasion of the China-Central Asia Summit - a platform opening up new prospects for China-Central Asia cooperation.

At the ceremony, Zheng Qingchun, president of the Tianjin Vocational Institute (TVI), and Saule Rakhmetullina, president of D. Serikbayev East Kazakhstan Technical University, signed an agreement on the cooperation and construction of a Luban Workshop in Kazakhstan.

Zheng Qingchun, president of the Tianjin Vocational Institute, delivers a speech. [Photo provided to Tianjin.chinadaily.com.cn]

According to Zheng, the project is a specific practice of building a China-Central Asia community with a shared future, which is a key consensus between the two heads of state.

He added that the TVI vows to strictly follow the standards throughout construction, and will provide quality training equipment, faculty training, teaching standards, and textbook resources, to ensure the high-quality development of the Luban Workshop in Kazakhstan.

Saule Rakhmetullina, president of D. Serikbayev East Kazakhstan Technical University, delivers a speech. [Photo provided to Tianjin.chinadaily.com.cn]

Saule Rakhmetullina said that it is a great honor to carry out practical cooperation with China's quality vocational education institution, the TVI, to build the first Luban workshop in Kazakhstan.

She recognized the Luban workshop as an excellent brand to make Chinese vocational education go global, believing that it will not only help promote Kazakhstan's vocational and technical education but will also benefit the local people and boost economic and social development across Central Asia.

An inking ceremony of the Luban Workshop in Kazakhstan, was held on May 18 in Tianjin, China. [Photo provided to Tianjin.chinadaily.com.cn]

As the contract defines, the first phase of the Kazakhstan Luban Workshop will start with building the transportation equipment and technology major. In early August, D. Serikbayev East Kazakhstan Technical University will send teachers to participate in a 4-week pre-job training in China.

The preparations for unveiling the workshop will be completed by the end of October this year. The two schools will fully promote the project, aiming to support technical personnel for Kazakhstan's economic and social development and high-quality Belt and Road cooperation.

Askhat Abdumurzayev, representative of the Ministry of Education and Science in China, Ainur Yerzhebayeva, chief expert for the department of international cooperation of D. Serikbayev East Kazakhstan Technical University, and Xia Jingbo, Party secretary of the TVI, also attended the ceremony.