From June 14 to 18, 2014, notified by Confucius Institute Headquarters (Hanban), Prof. Gao Huanyue, CUPL Council Vice-Chairperson, at the invitation of University College Dublin (UCD) and on behalf of our university, attended the 2014 joint conference of the Confucius Institutes in Europe at Dublin, Republic of Ireland.
Hosted by UCD Confucius Institute for Ireland, this meeting aimed to strengthen the contact between local universities and Hanban, to spread the advanced management experience of outstanding Confucius Institutes and to initiate discussion on the future development plans for the Confucius Institutes. Delegates from 53 newly established Confucius Institutes in 23 European countries were invited to attend the conference, including the Confucius Institute at Bangor University in the UK and the Confucius Institute at Bucharest University in Romania. Both were co-founded and are currently run by CUPL and its two local partners.
On the afternoon of June 15, the opening ceremony was held in UCD. Mr. Liu Yunshan, member of the Standing Committee of the Politburo of the CPC Central Committee, member of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee, President of CPC Central Party School, and Deputy Director of the State Commission Office for Public Sector Reform (SCOPSR) made the opening speech, which was followed by speeches delivered respectively by Prof. Andrew J Deeks, President of UCD, Chen Yulu, President of Renmin University of China (the Chinese partner university of UCD Confucius Institute for Ireland) and Mr. Ruairi Quinn, Minister of Department of Education & Skills, Republic of Ireland. Following the speeches, all the attendees took a guided tour in UCD Confucius Institute and then attended the welcome dinner.
On the morning of June 16, the plenary session was convened; on that afternoon, group discussions were arranged. At the plenary session, Xu Lin, Director-General of the Confucius Institute Headquarters delivered a keynote speech, elaborating on matters such as the future development blueprint of Confucius Institutes, the four main types of Institutes. Ren Jingwei and Wang Yongli, two Deputy Directors-General of the Confucius Institute Headquarters & Deputy Directors of Hanban, made a detailed introduction concerning current policies and key projects.
On the morning of June 17, the closing ceremony for the Joint Conference was held, marking its successful conclusion.
During this visit, Gao Huanyue also visited Xu Jianguo, China’s ambassador to Ireland.
