The first foreign astronaut to enter the Chinese space station studied Chinese at the Confucius Institute

China News Service, Beijing, November 14 (Reporters Zeng Yue and Xie Longfei) Qu Zhaowei, Secretary of the Party Committee of Beijing Language and Culture University, exclusively revealed in an exclusive interview with a reporter from China News Service on the 13th that the first foreign astronaut to enter the Chinese Space Station studied Chinese at the Confucius Institute.

According to the China Manned Space Engineering Office, a Pakistani astronaut will participate in the Shenzhou 24 manned mission as a payload expert. After completing a short-term on-orbit flight, he will return with the Shenzhou 23 manned spacecraft.

Previously, Chinese officials had completed the selection of the first batch of foreign astronauts. Two Pakistani candidates, Muhammad Zeeshan Ali and Khurram Daud, were selected. One of them will become the first foreign astronaut to enter the Chinese space station.

"Both astronauts studied Chinese at the Confucius Institute in Islamabad, Beijing Language and Culture University." Qu Zhaowei introduced in an exclusive interview with a reporter from China News Service during the 2026 World Chinese Language Conference.

From the Chinese classroom to the vast space, Qu Zhaowei believes that this is a very meaningful and exciting story. "It allows us to see that Chinese is not only a language for exchanging ideas, but also becoming an important language connecting knowledge, technology, innovation and the future of mankind."

He said that Chinese is becoming an important passport for entering China, understanding China, and participating in China's development. Today, China has been deeply involved in global technological innovation, industrial transformation and international cooperation, and language is an important basis for realizing this cooperation.

"Especially in a highly specialized field like aerospace, accurate understanding of technical concepts, professional instructions and work specifications is inseparable from solid language skills." Qu Zhaowei said that the two foreign astronauts learning Chinese at BLCU shows that Chinese education has entered a more professional and cutting-edge international cooperation scene.

He pointed out that Chinese is expanding from a language of daily communication to a language of professional knowledge, scientific and technological communication and international cooperation, and has become an important communication medium for mankind to explore the unknown and work together to create the future.

"Aerospace is a cause for mankind to jointly explore the universe. When foreign astronauts who master Chinese enter the Chinese space station, Chinese carries not only the language communication itself, but also the scientific spirit, the spirit of cooperation and the spirit of mankind to jointly explore the unknown." Qu Zhaowei said.

The Confucius Institute in Islamabad was jointly established by Beijing Language and Culture University and the National University of Modern Languages ​​of Pakistan. It is the first Confucius Institute in Pakistan and has a history of 21 years. (over)