On December 3rd, at the eve of the 13th Confucius Institute Conference, President Yanrong Li met with the delegation of the overseas Confucius Institutes. Vice President Shijing Yan and relevant officials joined the meeting.

President Li expressed his welcome to all members of the delegation, and extended his gratitude to their long-term support for the construction of SCU, especially for the overseas Confucius Institutes. Sichuan University attaches great importance to the construction of Confucius Institutes and gives full play to its multidisciplinary advantages in its efforts to build Confucius Institutes into an important window for publicity and an important platform for international exchanges and talent introduction, as well as a base for serving the overseas alumni. He emphasized that, as part of its measures to build a world-class university, SCU plans to expand the international vision of its teaching staff and students and enhance its international competitiveness through the “International Immersion Program” and the “SCU Global Horizons”. Besides, SCU will continue to support the construction of overseas Confucius Institutes and make new contributions to promoting cooperation and cultural exchanges between Chinese and foreign universities, he noted.

Mr. Matthew Salmon, chairman of the Confucius Institute's US Center Advisory Board& vice president of Arizona State University, said in the meeting that Arizona State University pays due attention to the exchanges and cooperation with Sichuan University. The Confucius Institute at Arizona State University has offered many study and cultural exchange opportunities to its students. Such a platform for learning language and for cultural integration will deepen the mutual cooperation and boost the cultural exchanges among cooperative universities and even between the two countries.

During the meeting, the representatives of five overseas Confucius Institutes from the Arizona State University, the University of Utah, the Washington D.C., the Free University of Belgium, and the Woosong University reviewed respectively the development progress, exchanged views on the achievements of both institutions in Chinese teaching, cultural promotion and exchanges and cooperation in recent years, and discussed the future development planning and path of the Confucius Institutes. It's agreed that, with the strong support of Sichuan University, both institutions will carry out in-depth exchanges and continue to play a bigger role in promoting mutual understanding and cultural exchanges.