On the morning of July 9th, 2015, the three Chinese Co-Directors of our overseas Confucius Institutes (CI) reported their annual work to CUPL decision makers at Xueyuanlu Campus. Prof. Xue Xiaojian, Co-Director of Confucius Institute at the University of Bucharest (CI at UB), Romania, Prof. Zeng Tao, Co-Director of Confucius Institute at Bangor University (CI at BU), UK, and Prof. Song Qingbao, Co-Director of Confucius Institute at the University of the West Indies at Cave Hill (CI at UWI, Cave Hill), Barbados, respectively, made their reports after attending the opening ceremony of the 2015 Chinese Culture Experience Summer Camp and the related book donation for our overseas CIs.
By highlighting the unique features of their Confucius Institutes as a useful backdrop, the three Co-Directors took turns giving detailed accounts of their achievements, as well as defects, obstacles and problems on the overall operation of those CIs in the past year.
Soon afterwards, Prof. Xu Lan, Director of CUPL Office of International Cooperation and Exchange, conveyed the opinions and suggestions on the administration of those Confucius Institutes to the three Co-Directors, as well as to the top administrators of our university. Those feedbacks were given by Hanban (Confucius Institute Headquarters) and also the Chinese embassies and consulates in the respective hosting countries.
Co-Directors of our three overseas Confucius Institutes reported their annual work
CUPL Vice-President Ma Huaide spoke highly of the detailed and valuable reports delivered by the three Co-Directors. He also expressed his deep appreciation for the high level achievements they made in their overseas work despite overwhelming odds. The establishment and the subsequent development of Confucius Institute is not only a part of our national strategy, but also serves as a pivot as well as an ideal platform for exchange for a university trying to fully develop its international blueprint for higher education, which is of great significance to CUPL. Prof. Ma expressed his hope that those three Co-Directors would continue their hard work in the coming days by making full use of the solid assistance provided by CUPL, Hanban, and the Chinese embassies and consulates in their hosting countries. Prof. Ma stated that they should timely communicate with interested partners, and strive for their understanding and support to further develop those CIs. They should also exercise ever greater influence in the local society. Also, Prof. Ma indicated that CUPL desires to use those overseas Confucius Institutes as a good recruiting platform to attract more and more high-quality international students to further their studies on our campus. At the ending of the meeting, Prof. Ma once again expressed his thankfulness to these three Co-Directors for their diligent work in the past year, and vowed that our university will do its utmost to provide consistent support for their future work.
This round of annual work reports was the first of its kind ever convened by our university, and it is planned to be a yearly routine in the future. The new institution will not only greatly facilitate the timely communication and exchanges between CUPL and its overseas Confucius Institutes, but will also let those Institutes reach a higher stage of development.
