We all successfully settled in for the second month of classroom learning and some are already in their first year of language courses, Zuriel Lackna, who enrolled in Architecture at Jiaotong University in Beijing said.

Several students, including myself, completed the Chinese language period online during the stay in our country and are therefore now starting the initial year of the main studies, he added.

‘Despite the bone-chilling cold and adaptation to local cuisine, we are doing very well and enjoying the classes,’ said Lackna, who was quoted by the Antigua Observer newspaper.

We have also made new friends and explored the rich historic cities in China, he said on behalf of other young people who opted for Medicine, Urban and Rural Planning, Hospitality and Engineering.

The students will spend up to six years in China under a program directly coordinated by Antigua and Barbuda’s Prime Minister Gaston Browne.

The Scholarship Committee noted that the application deadline to study in China in 2023 is fast approaching and informed applicants that there are twenty places available for the 2023-2024 academic year.

Antigua and Barbuda and China commemorated the 40th anniversary of diplomatic relations in late December by opening of a new embassy in this capital.

The two countries established diplomatic relations in 1983, less than two years after the independence of this Caribbean State.

As of 2002, Chinese exports to the twin islands were valued at 1,885,50 US dollars, while China imported 1,64,950 dollars in goods.

Antigua and Barbuda was one of 53 territories that, in June 2020, endorsed Hong Kong’s national security law at the United Nations.

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