"Facing the global trend of information technology and new economy, we should use this occasion to discuss how to improve the teaching methods and education quality of the Chinese language, which is used by nearly one fourth population in the world, " Liang Bin, chairman of the meeting, said in a keynote speech at the opening ceremony.

The meeting, namely the 5th Asia-Pacific Conference on New Trend of Chinese Education and School Management, is an annual gathering sponsored by the Chinese School Association of Thailand since 1996. "With the rapid growth of the overall strength of the Chinese nation and China's increasing political and economic influence in the international arena, the Chinese Language will be become an international language just like English and French, in the near future," she noted.

"So the Chinese language education is going to be a very important part of the world education."

Jiang Dunjie, chief of the Chinese delegation, said that as China's Chinese language education is moving toward the global trend of "quality education", it is very necessary for the Chinese educators to exchange their experiences and ideas with their colleagues from the outside world, especially in the Asia-Pacific region where the Chinese language education has a long tradition.

"We are very glad to have the chance to listen to other Chinese language educators and experts about what they are thinking about, " he said.

During one-day meeting, participants will give lectures or hold seminar discussions on issues related to the Chinese language education, such as "quality education", teacher's training, teaching methods and the scientific school management.

(People's Daily 11/13/2000)