The 13th Confucius Institute Conference concluded on December 5th. Vice Minister Xuejun Tian of the Ministry of Education delivered the closing speech and presented awards to prize winners. Sichuan University, Beijing Normal University and Beijing Foreign Studies University and other seven Chinese universities have been named “Advanced Chinese Partner of Confucius Institute”. This is the first time that SCU has won such an honor.
Minister Baosheng Chen of the Ministry of Education presided over the opening ceremony on the 4th. Ms. Chunlan Sun, vice premier and president of the Confucius Institute Headquarters Council, attended and delivered a speech. As a co-sponsor, SCU has actively participated in work at the secretarial group, conference affairs group, foreign affairs group, volunteer group, etc., helping the conference to convene successfully. Jianguo Wang, Chairman of the university council, was invited to attend the opening ceremony.
Having the theme: “Promote development by reform and innovation; Create a better future by working hand in hand”, this conference has held two thematic forums and eight rector’s forums for Chinese and foreign university presidents. Over 1,500 representatives from over 150 countries and regions have attended this conference. For the first time, the conference has set up workshops, inviting university presidents, deans and scholars to conduct seminars regarding 20 topics on the development of the Confucius Institute. Matt Salmon, vice president of Arizona State University and chairman of the American advisory board of the Confucius Institute, participated as a speaker in the rector’s forum on “Shaping and displaying the public image of Confucius Institutes”.
SCU has established five Confucius Institutes and 25 Confucius classrooms through partnership with world first-class universities in the U.S.A, Belgium and South Korea. Nearly 12,900 people study Chinese all year round. In South Korea, the Woosong University Confucius Institute was founded in 2007 and was the first Confucius Institute that SCU has set up. This institute was named “Advanced Confucius Institute” in 2010. The newest Confucius Institute that SCU has set up was the Confucius Institute inthe Université libre de Bruxelles ofBelgium in 2016. The aim is to build an entirely new research-oriented Confucius Institute. The other three Confucius Institutes of SCU are located in Arizona State University, the University of Utah and the state of Washington. The Arizona State University Confucius Institute was named “Advanced Confucius Institute” in 2016.
SCU President Yanrong Li met with 14 representatives from the five SCU sponsored Confucius Institutes prior to the conference. He indicated that SCU would employ the internationalization strategy as one important measure to build a world first-class university. SUC would further broaden the horizon of teachers and students alike by holding “International Course Week” and launching the “Grand SCU Viewpoint”, a student exhange program overseas. The Confucius Institute is an important vehicle for SCU to achieve internationalization.
