In the afternoon of May 9, President Huang Jin met with François Jackman, newly appointed Barbados Ambassador to China, at the Xueyuanlu Campus.
President Huang first extended a warm welcome to Ambassador François Jackman on behalf of CUPL and gratitude to the Barbados Embassy for its support to the co-established Confucius Institute at the Cave Hill Campus of the University of the West Indies, Barbados (the CI at Barbados). He said that the CI at Barbados was an platform for exchanges and cooperation between the two schools and also served as a bond that promoted the continuous integration of the two cultures. The CI at Barbados was one of the 25 out of 500 CIs in the world that won the title of 2017 Global Advanced Confucius Institute. This honor was not only a high recognition of the hard work of the two schools, but also a hope for continued cooperation and exchanges between the two countries in the future. President Huang said that CUPL would spare no efforts to support the development of the CI at Barbados and to strengthen academic exchanges and interactions, especially cooperation in the field of law, between the two schools and the two countries through ambassador. Meanwhile, President Huang hoped that Ambassador François Jackman, as former foreign Co-Director of the CI at Barbados, could see CUPL as his second home and take part in the construction and development of CUPL.
Ambassador François Jackman said that the CI at Barbados could not have won the title of2017 Global Advanced Confucius Institute without the support of CUPL, especially of President Huang and the Confucius Institute team. As one of most successful cooperation programs, the CI at Barbados had become an important bridge of exchanges and cooperation between China and Barbados and had made a lot of contribution to external communication of Barbados’s culture. Besides, he hoped to expand the exchange and cooperation in the field of culture between the two schools and two countries, through the platform of the Confucius Institute.
The two sides also exchanged opinions on Council of the CI at Barbados, summer Chinese cultural experience camp of the CI, appointment of Chinese language teachers and volunteers, co-hosting Caribbean Culture Day and so on.
Afterwards, Ambassador François Jackman left a message on the message book and took photos. Xu Lan, Director of the Office of International Cooperation and Exchange, Qu Xin, Deputy Director of CI of CUPL, and other CUPL staff accompanied President Huang during the meeting.