On December 10 and 11, the 11th Confucius Institute Conference was held in Kunming, Yunnan. Prof. Dong Jingbo, Chinese Co-Director and Prof. Luminita Balan, Romanian Co-Director of the CI at BU, serving as representatives of the CI at UB, attended the conference with presidents and representatives from colleges and Confucius Institutes from 140 countries and regions in the world. With the theme of “Innovation, Cooperation, Inclusiveness, Sharing”, this conference had a series of activities, such as the International University Presidents’ Forum and the Confucius Institute Deans’ Forum. Many individuals and organizations were recognized and honored for their outstanding performance. Prof. Luminita Balan, Romanian Co-Director of the CI at UB received the “2016 Confucius Institute Individual Performance Excellence Award” and the “Confucius Institute Medal.” Liu Yandong, Chinese Vice Premier and Chairperson of the Confucius Institute Headquarter Council, presented Prof. Balan with the award. Prof. Huang Jin, CUPL President, also attended the award ceremony and took pictures with both Chinese and Foreign Co-Directors of the CI at UB.
The “Confucius Institute Individual Performance Excellence Award” was established to honor those who have made great contributions to the development and construction of Confucius Institutes. In 2016, the Headquarters of Confucius Institute selected 30 individuals from hundreds of Chinese and foreign directors and other candidates from 511 Confucius Institutes globally. Prof. Luminita Balan was one among the few foreign directors of the CIs from Central and Eastern Europe.
Prof. Luminita Balan is a famous sinologist in Central and Eastern Europe, who has translated various Chinese literature compositions including Mencius, Xun Zi and novels of Moyan. She has made significant contributions to the promotion of Chinese culture and Chinese teaching since she became the Director of the Confucius Institute.
Prof. Luminita Balan felt extremely honored to win this reward, and expressed her sincere gratitude to all her colleagues in the CI at UB who have supported her all the time. She said that, “although the conference gave me this medal of honor, in my eyes, this medal belongs to the CI, and this reward is a result of the efforts of all staff of CI. I want to express my sincere gratitude to the Chinese Co-director of the CI at UB and to all teachers and volunteers of the CI at UB. Without your efforts, I can never receive this reward, and this is an achievement that belongs to the CI at UB, and a medal for all of us”.
