MAPUTO, May 31 (Xinhua) -- Chinese liquor giant Maotai Group on Thursday delivered a primary school here, on whose renovation and expansion it spent nearly 500,000 U.S. dollars.
The group funded the construction of eight additional classrooms, an office, a lavatory and other facilities, and purchase about 200 sets of desks and chairs for Lewi Pethrus Primary School in the Ka-Tembe district of Maputo city in Mozambique. Currently the school has 489 students and 11 teachers.
The delivery is the best gift for the children on the eve of the International Children's Day, school director Adelina Cossa said at the ceremony. "We can only thank the great gesture of the Maotai group. We thank on behalf of all the children of the whole country for this gift."
Permanent Secretary of Mozambique's Ministry of Education and Human Development Jose Seiuane Junior said the government pays close attention to the education sector, which "is reflected in the government's effort to seek and allocate financial resources through state budget and strong support from the cooperation partners as we can witness today."
Municipal Education Councilor of Maputo Celso Fulano said that the added classrooms and facilities will improve the school's educational conditions, help increase enrollment and thus contribute to the national education system.
Chinese ambassador to Mozambique Su Jian said the renovated school reflects the friendship between China and Mozambique and embodies the social responsibility of the Chinese enterprise.
"It's also a school of seeds, as it will function as the cradle for the talents that the country needs, with the seeds of bilateral friendship being sowed," Su said.
As part of the cooperation between the two countries, China has long provided aid for the construction of vocational schools, primary and secondary schools and educational facilities in Mozambique, Su said.
"Each year, there are more than 400 Mozambicans going to China for short-term training programs and another dozens studying there with government scholarships," he added.
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