In the afternoon of November 18, the Confucius Institute of the University of Bucharest (the CI at UB), co-sponsored by CUPL and UB, successfully held its ninth board meeting. Due to COVID-19, the meeting was held both online and offline. The meeting was attended by Marian Preda, President of UB, Sorin Costreie and Mugurel-Dan Zlotea, Vice Presidents of UB, Ma Huaide, President of CUPL, Li Shuangchen, Vice President of CUPL, and other Chinese and Romanian board members. The meeting was chaired by Prof. Luminita Balan, Romanian Co-Director of the CI at UB.

UB President Marian Preda expressed his heartfelt gratitude to the Chinese and Romanian Co-Directors of the CI at UB and especially recognized the hard work and outstanding achievements of the Chinese Co-Director Li Li in the past years. He also praised the positive interaction between CUPL and UB in Chinese language teaching and cultural exchanges. He highly recognized the existing cooperation between the two universities, and looked forward to deepening the exchanges in the future.

CUPL President Ma expressed his heartfelt thanks and sincere greetings on behalf of CUPL to the board members who had long cared for, helped, and supported the development of the CI at UB. He pointed out that since its establishment in 2013, the CI at UB had achieved fruitful results, expanded the cooperation between the two universities, and deepened cultural exchanges between the two countries. Especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, the CI at UB had not only ensured the safety and health of teachers and students as well as the teaching and administrative works, but also pioneered the localization of Chinese education in Romania through scientific research. He said that CUPL also helped the teaching and research of the CI at UB through remote education and dispatching Chinese teachers and volunteers, etc. Ma added that the two universities had signed a new cooperation agreement, which marked the smooth transformation of CI at UB, and the closer cooperation between the two universities in the future. He hoped that the cooperation between the two universities would deliver more fruits in the future.

According to the agenda, Prof. Li Li and Prof. Balan delivered reports on work in 2021, financial statement and budget, as well as work plan for 2022. The board deliberated on and approved the above reports. The board also discussed and considered other issues proposed by the CI at UB.

Costreie and Li Shuangchen delivered concluding remarks. Costreie expressed his sincere gratitude to the Chinese and Romanian Co-Directors and spoke highly the work of the CI at UB in the following fields, Chinese language teaching, preparation of textbooks and proceedings, and etc. Costreie invited President Ma and Chinese board members to visit for exchanges after the pandemic was under control, and encouraged the CI at UB to keep striving for more achievements. Li Shuangchen commended the CI at UB for the achievements made during the difficult period of the COVID-19 pandemic, and expressed his heartfelt thanks to the CI faculty for their efforts. He considered the meeting a complete success and hoped that the CI at UB would continue to flourish with the support of the two universities and to promote in-depth cooperation and exchanges between the two universities and even between China and Romania.

The meeting concluded in a warm and friendly atmosphere. Mircea Dumitru, former President and professor of the Faculty of Philosophy of UB, Daniela-Anca Deteseanu, Vice Dean of the Faculty of Law of UB, Yu Xueming, Dean of the School of Humanities of CUPL, Wang Fuping, Deputy Director of the Office of International Cooperation and Exchange of CUPL, and Li Dandan, Director of Confucius Institute Office, also attended the meeting.