The University is delighted to host two visitors from the Beijing Foreign Affairs Office on a Chinese-English interpreting short course run by Bath’s MA Interpreting and Translation team. The bespoke training course is the first of its kind for both the University and the Foreign Affairs Office.

Dr. Nina Parish, Director of Studies, MA Interpreting and Translation, said:

We are delighted to receive Ms Zhuang and Ms Liu from the Beijing Foreign Affairs Office for a four-week intensive interpreting training programme in the Department of Politics, Languages and International Studies. We attach great importance to building and fostering our partnerships with Chinese institutions. Not only does it enrich our postgraduate programmes in translation and interpreting, it also adds variety to the student cohort.

The Foreign Affairs Office of the Beijing Municipal Government is responsible for a wide range of high-level international and foreign affairs activities in China’s capital, and also runs its own education and training programmes. The initial contact with Bath was facilitated by Bath alumnus Yueqian Wang, who received his MA in International Relations in 2014 and joined the Foreign Affairs Office earlier this year.

Professor Jonathan Knight, Pro-Vice Chancellor (Research), welcomed the visitors for a reception event. He commented:

Our University has an excellent reputation for training interpreters and translators for work in high-level international or diplomatic environments, and we are delighted that the Beijing Foreign Affairs Office chose to send their staff to Bath. We have a number of strategic education and research partnerships in China and a strong alumni contingent, and we welcome the opportunity to explore new collaborations.