The 12th Confucius Institute Conference was held in Xi’an from December 12th to 13th, centering on “Deepen Cooperation, Developing through Innovation, Working Together to Build a Community of Shared Future for Mankind”. Nearly 2,500 university presidents and representatives of Confucius Institutes from over 140 countries and regions conducted a two-day discussion on the theme of promoting the in-depth cooperation between Chinese and foreign universities through the platform of Confucius Institutes and the Confucius Institute's participation in the Belt and Road Initiative. Liu Yandong, Vice Premier of the State Council and Chairwoman of the Council of Confucius Institute Headquarters attended and delivered a keynote speech. Delegates from Xiamen University (XMU) including Zhang Yan, Secretary of the CPC Xiamen University Committee, Zhan Xinli, Vice President of Xiamen University, and representatives of the Southern Base of Confucius Institute Headquarters/Office of Confucius Institute Affairs attended the conference.
Vice Premier Liu Yandong awarded outstanding individuals and units from all Confucius Institutes.
Following the awards of 2013, 2014 and 2015, our school won the title of Outstanding Chinese Partner of Confucius Institutes for the fourth time this year. Zhang Yan, Secretary of the CPC XMU Committee, received the award on behalf of our school. The Confucius Institute at Nnamdi Azikiwe University in Nigeria, hosted by our school, won the “Confucius Institute of the Year”.
Liu Yandong said, President Xi Jinping once put forward that Confucius Institutes are the window and bridge of language and culture exchange between China and other countries. Confucius Institute belongs to China and also to the world. Since the establishment of Confucius Institute for thirteen years, especially in the past five years, with the joint efforts and the persistence of interaction and sharing of Chinese and foreign partners, the Confucius Institute had maintained its momentum of rapid development with rapid changes. It had made an active contribution to enhance the friendship between China and other peoples and promote mutual exchanges and learning between Chinese and foreign civilizations.
Liu Yandong stressed that Confucius Institutes should take the language exchange as the link, cultural exchange as the platform, and strive to become the bridge of friendship and the propeller of win-win cooperation. It is necessary to optimize the layout, improve the schooling level, deepen the reform of teachers, teaching materials and teaching methods, strengthen the training of local teachers and provide services for the diversified localization needs of various countries. Confucius Institutes also need to improve its system and mechanisms, give play to the strength of both China and foreign countries, create a humanistic communication brand of inclusiveness, sharing and harmonious coexistence, and make new contributions to building a community of shared future for mankind.
During the conference, Vice President Zhan Xinli made a speech titled Constructing a Good Public Image of Confucius Institute at the Forum of Chinese and Foreign Principals, and conducted in-depth discussions with principals and scholars from well-known universities around the world. Vice President Zhan pointed out that the establishment of the public image of Confucius Institute should take the language and culture services as the basic support, the acceptance and recognition of overseas public as the criterion, and the promotion of building a community of shared future for mankind as the orientation and goal. Meanwhile, the construction of public image of Confucius Institute is also the job and responsibility of those host colleges and Mission of the Times. In addition, Zhan also attended the national working conference on Confucius Institute, which is attended by the heads of Confucius Institutes’ Chinese host colleges.
Taken as Davos in education, the annual Confucius Institute Conference is a grand event for all the Confucius Institutes around the world. Since it was founded in 2004, 146 countries and regions have established 525 Confucius Institutes and opened 1113 Confucius Classrooms in primary and secondary schools, which have been widely welcomed by all countries in the world. Those Confucius Institutes and Confucius Classrooms have become the link between Chinese people and other people of the world, and also plays an important role in the diverse human civilization exchanges and mutual learning.
The year 2017 has been regarded as the High-quality Developing Year of Confucius Institutes Co-founded by Xiamen University. During this year, the Confucius Institute Performance Evaluation Index System and Management System, developed by our school, has been officially put into use. It means our Confucius Institutes have put more emphasis on the quality improvement. A total of 50,283 students from 16 Confucius Institutes and 47 Confucius Classrooms co-established by our school have registered this year, an increase of 24% over the previous year. There are also 907 cultural activities held with a total number of 230,000 participants, showing a high growth momentum for 11 consecutive years. In addition, those Confucius Institutes and Confucius Classrooms has undertaken 536 teachers and students exchanges, 27 varied training with 831 trainees. The quality and influence of Confucius Institutes have been further improved. Moreover, with the close collaboration and full support of the co-funded Confucius Institutes, in 2017, our school has successfully organized a teacher-student art troupe to tour overseas five schools and a Chinese medicine groups to tour six UK universities. Those tours actively introduce Chinese culture to the world and promote overseas local people's understanding of China and Chinese culture.
Source: http://ocia.xmu.edu.cn/en/news/jidiyaowen/2018-03-01/129.html
