French FM attends language year launch

BEIJING - French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe attended the opening ceremony of the French Language Year in China at Beijing Language and Culture University (BLCU) on Tuesday with Chinese State Councilor Liu Yandong.

BLCU started cooperating with Alliance Francaise, an international organization that aims to promote French language and culture around the world in 1998, with the construction of a French teaching center at the university.

The center recently registered 430 students for its latest term, making this a record year for enrolment as the figure had previously never exceeded 350, said Qiao Chengwei, the deputy chief of BLCU's Overseas Study Orientation Department and vice-dean of the Alliance Francaise in Beijing.