British universities launch Chinese Study Center

A special research center to boost Chinese studies has been jointly launched by the universities of Oxford, Bristol and Manchester to ensure British higher education's competence in the field.

Xinhua reports that the British Inter-University China Center (BICC) will bring together top specialists in Chinese studies from Britain and other countries, including historians, anthropologists, economists, philosophers as well as experts in politics and international relations.

The center, which would cost about five million pounds (7.4 million euros) to establish hopes to expand the teaching of the Chinese language across Britain and attract more students through outreach programs.

Dr. Frank Pieke, director of Oxford's Institute for Chinese Studies and the BICC was quoted in the news report as saying that the new center "will help British institutions to compete with the in the world."

An inaugural conference will be held in London and Oxford from Wednesday to Friday. Conference topics include China's role as the world's workshop and its future impact on international relations and the environment. The conference will also take a look at the recent developments in Chinese history and how Chinese language teaching in Britain could be developed.

The center got its funding from the Higher Education Funding Council for England, the Economic and Social Research Council and the Arts and Humanities Research Council.