Consul General Madam He Ying attended and addressed the opening ceremony of the 2026 In-Service Training Program for Mandarin Language Assistants (MLAs) on July 4. The event was joined by Zhang Yingjie, Chinese Co-Director of the Confucius Institute at the University of Canterbury, Education Consul Shen Jian, and over 20 Mandarin Language Assistants and Chinese Language Teachers.

In her speech, Consul General He thanked the MLAs for their dedication to Chinese language teaching and cultural promotion in New Zealand’s South Island. She encouraged them to hone their teaching expertise, serve as grassroots ambassadors, and help strengthen China–New Zealand ties through everyday engagement. She reaffirmed the Consulate General’s full support for their work.

The two-day program covers teaching skills, cross-cultural communication, and personal safety, combining expert lectures, panel discussions, and peer sharing to boost participants' professional capabilities.