Xu Lin Awarded Medal of Honor of 475th Anniversary of the University of Zaragoza

On Apr. 7th, Xu Lin, counselor of the State Council of China and member of the 12th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, received a medal of honor of the 475th anniversary of the University of Zaragoza in recognition of her outstanding contributions to the founding of the Confucius Institute at the University of Zaragoza, and of her effort to disseminate Chinese language and culture as well as to promote academic and sci-tech exchanges between China and Spain.

Xu Lin receiving the medal

The awarding ceremony was presided over by Juan Garcia Blasco, Secretary General of the University. During the ceremony, President José Antonio Mayoral Murillo awarded Xu Lin the medal and the certificate, and then delivered a speech in which he emphasized that cooperation with China was strategically significant to the University of Zaragoza. In 2016, with joint efforts, the university signed an agreement to establish a Confucius Institute with Confucius Institute Headquarters and Nanjing Tech University. The unveiling ceremony will be held in June this year. Mayoral Murillo believes that the Confucius Institute will serve as an important platform for the university, the autonomous region of Aragon, and Zaragoza city to spread Chinese language and culture and promote sci-tech and cultural exchanges between the two countries.

Xu Lin giving a thank-you speech

In her speech, Xu Lin expressed her gratitude to the University of Zaragoza and President Mayoral Murillo. She said that the medal means not only a personal honor and encouragement, but also full affirmation and passionate support to the Confucius Institute. China and Spain share a long history of friendship and in recent years the cooperation in various fields has been deepened between the two countries. Given the huge economic sizes and great complementarities of the two countries, China and Spain still have a long way to go towards mutual understanding, especially between the young generations. Language is a key to in-depth communication. We warmly welcome the students from the University of Zaragoza to learn Chinese at the Confucius Institute, hoping they would have better careers and fulfill their dreams after graduation, so as to make more contributions to enhancing educational and cultural exchanges and the cooperation between China and Spain.

The University of Zaragoza is one of the oldest institutions of higher education in Spain. The tradition of awarding this medal dates back to the 400th anniversary of the university’s establishment. Previously, seven people have been awarded, including Spanish King Juan Carlos and two institutions, such as the government of Zaragoza. This year, the honor was bestowed to the national hero of Cuba, Jose Marty, a great thinker and poet, and Xu Lin, who is the first Chinese to receive the honor.