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A joyous celebration was held on September 6 in Beijing to mark the 40th birthday of the Beijing Language and Culture University (BLCU), China's leading teaching center of the Chinese language and culture for foreign students.

The ceremony also honored the 52nd anniversary of Chinese language instruction for foreign students.

In a congratulatory letter addressed to the celebration, President Jiang Zemin praised the conscientious efforts and achievements the university had made in promoting Chinese language, culture and friendship with other countries and requested that it continue to make progress in this field.

Li Peng, chairman of the Standing Committee of the Chinese National People's Congress (NPC), and Vice-Premier Li Lanqing also wrote congratulatory messages for the occasion.

Over the past four decades, the university has trained more than 60,000 foreign students from 160 countries and regions, as well as large numbers of Chinese students.

Many senior government officials, including Wang Guangying and Xu Jialu, both vice-chairman of the NPC Standing Committee, as well as ambassadors and embassy officials from more than 70 countries around the world joined the celebration, which also attracted some 1,500 personalities from both at home and overseas.