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On June 10, 2019, The British Consul-General Chongqing hosted the Queen’s birthday celebration at the Nicolo Hotel in Chongqing. Over 300 people from various sectors attended the party including Chongqing government officers, media, business, education and culture. Chengdu Westminster School was invited to the event as an institution with ties to the British royal family and the British Consul-General in Chongqing.
At the fifth meeting of the China-UK high level face-face talks held in London on December 7th, 2017, the UK Westminster School development project in China was listed as a major cultural exchange project between China and the UK. The British Embassy in China and The British Consul-General in Chongqing have always attached great importance to the project, offering sustained support.
Westminster School has a long history with the British royal family. In 1560, Elizabeth I granted royal patronage and recognition to the school, which remains to today. At Westminster, students who gain Queen’s Scholarship are known as the Queen’s Scholars. Queen’s Scholars are privileged to be able to attend a variety of special services in Westminster Abbey, as invited by the Dean. Such events have included the wedding of the Prince William and Princess Kate’s and the 60th anniversary of the Coronation.
In her welcome speech, The British Consul-General Chongqing, Ms Cecille Elbeleidi, drew attention to the outstanding achievements of China and the UK in educational cooperation and exchange in 2018. She remarked “we are pleased to see that 170,000 Chinese students have chosen world-leading British universities, making them the largest group of international students in the UK. The popular UK future initiative encourages British students to learn about 21st century China and this year attracted more than 100 British students to study in southwest China.” She then singled out Chengdu Westminster School as “the first overseas development of one of the UK’s leading and long-standing academic institutions”.
After the meeting, Ms Cecille Elbeleidi cordially met with the representative of operation team of Chengdu Westminster School, in order to find out more about the school’s development, whilst reaffirming her long-term support of the project.
Westminster School is one of the nine most famous public schools in the UK, renowned for its long history and outstanding academic achievements. Chengdu Westminster School is the first of Westminster’s overseas schools to open in it’s almost 900 year history. CWS will offer a merged K-12 bilingual education for Chinese and international pupils aged 1-18. The school will open in September, 2020 in Mumashan Mountain, Shuangliu District, Chengdu.