Joint Conference of Overseas Confucius Institutes of Jilin University & Annual Council Meeting of Confucius Institute Held Successfully

From October 26th to 27th, the Joint Conference of Overseas Confucius Institutes of Jilin University and Annual Council Meeting of Confucius Institute were held successfully. Delegates from five foreign partners of the Confucius Institutes of Jilin University, including Rutgers University in the State of New Jersey, State University of Kiev in Ukraine, University of Buenos Aires in Argentina, Kansas State University and Hanyang University in South Korea, together with Chinese and foreign directors of Confucius Institutes, jointly discussed the blueprint of Confucius Institutes.

On the morning of the 26th, Li Yuanyuan, President of Jilin University, attended the opening ceremony of “2017 Joint Conference of Overseas Confucius Institutes of Jilin University” in the first conference room of Kuang Yaming Building and delivered a keynote speech. With Vice President Zheng Weitao presiding over the opening ceremony, relevant principals from College of Public Foreign Language Education, College of International Language, the Academic Affairs Office, the International Cooperation and Exchange Office (Northeast Base of Hanban for International Chinese Education) and College of International Education were present at the meeting. Representatives of students from these five foreign partners also participated in the whole process of the conference.

Li Yuanyuan delivered a keynote speech titled Inheritance and Innovation, Integration and Development: Thoughts on the Construction of Confucius Institutes in the New Situation. He pointed out that in the past five years, China has proposed the Belt and Road Initiative, successively launched a number of high-level cultural and people-to-people exchange mechanisms with foreign countries and actively participated in the construction of multilateral cooperation frameworks such as “BRICS+”, bringing brand-new historical opportunities to the world pattern.

The recently concluded 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China has opened a new era for China. Jilin University has also entered a new stage of development with “connotative development and striving for excellence”.

Li Yuanyuan delivering a keynote speech

Li Yuanyuan said that Jilin University is willing to work with overseas partners to deepen connotative development and promote the transformation and upgrading of the Confucius Institutes; further explore the development of the Confucius Institutes, and deepen bilateral or multilateral cooperation by means of International Chinese Education and China Study; strengthen joint training of talents, promote interdisciplinary cooperation and scientific research, promote the construction of superior disciplines and support the diversified development of overseas Confucius Institutes with multidisciplinary comprehensive advantages. Jilin University will also make use of its overseas Confucius Institutes network to support its “double first-class” university construction, and make the development of these institutes take root in various fields, such as higher education personnel training, scientific research, social services, cultural heritage innovation and international exchanges and cooperation so as to promote the connotative development of higher education, and thus achieve common prosperity and progress.

At the opening ceremony, Petro O. Bekh, Vice President of International Affairs at State University of Kiev, Ki-jeong Lee, Vice President of International Affairs at Hanyang University, Grant M. Chapman, Interim Associate Provost for International Programs at Kansas State University, Luis Perez Van Morlegan, Foreign Director of the Confucius Institute at the University of Buenos Aires in Argentina, and Richard V. Simmons, Foreign Director of the Confucius Institute at Rutgers University in New Jersey, made speeches on behalf of overseas partners.

Participants making speeches

On the afternoon of the same day, the participants discussed the theme of “inheritance and innovation, integration and development: the construction of the Confucius Institutes in the new situation”. Zheng Weitao made a speech entitled Path Choice for the Transformation and Upgrading of Overseas Confucius Institutes under the Background of “Double-first Class” Construction. He pointed out that with the development of China entering a new era, Jilin University has entered a new period of strategic opportunities, and “double-first class” construction will become the most important impetus and accelerator for Jilin University in building “a world-class university with Chinese characteristics”. How overseas Confucius Institutes seize the opportunity, deepen the connotative construction and achieve the transformation and upgrading has become an important issue for deliberation.

Venue of the conference

In his speech, Zheng Weitao analyzed the feasible path of the transformation and upgrading of the Confucius Institutes from four aspects: by relying on multidisciplinary advantages to promote the transformation and upgrading of the Confucius Institutes; by encouraging the flow of the talents to improve the quality of the Confucius Institutes; based on local demands to promote the localization of overseas Confucius Institutes; by expanding multilateral cooperation networks to extend the influence of the Confucius Institutes. And he also elaborated on the specific ideas and practices from three dimensions of sharing, cooperation and win-win results.

Petro O. Bekh, by virtue of the long history and comprehensive academic advantages of State University of Kiev in Ukraine, systematically expounded that Confucius Institutes along the land and maritime Silk Roads should be more open and active in the future and rely on the advantages of comprehensive disciplines to promote all-round cooperation with Chinese universities and academic circles.

Luis Perez Van Morlegan, drawing on the opportunities brought by the BRICS development and the BRICS cooperation framework, systematically explained the impact of the new era on Confucius Institutes, effective measures taken by the Confucius Institutes and so on.

Grant M. Chapman, starting with relationship between the Confucius Institutes and communities, various disciplines and the international strategy, systematically combed the relationship between the Confucius Institutes and the development of colleges and universities.

Seo Weon-nam, President of Institute of International Education at Hanyang University in South Korea discussed the plan for the Confucius Institutes’ development from the perspectives of their positioning and their role of facilitating bilateral cooperation.

Participants making speeches

The participants agreed that this joint conference is very necessary and effective. They unanimously approved that the next joint conference of Confucius Institutes will be held at Hanyang University in South Korea next year.

The next morning, the Annual Council Meeting of Confucius Institute in Jilin University was held. Representatives from foreign partners of the Confucius Institutes of Jilin University, Chinese and foreign directors of Confucius Institutes, and delegates from College of Agriculture, College of Chemistry, College of Liberal Arts, College of Economy in Jilin University attended the conference. The conference first reviewed and approved the list of the new council of overseas Confucius Institutes. The new council reviewed the 2016-2017 annual report of the five Confucius Institutes and discussed the future plan.

In his concluding remarks, Li Yuanyuan, Chairman of the Council on the Chinese side, pointed out that in the face of a new era for China, Jilin University has stepped into a new phase of “connotative development and striving for excellence”, and five overseas Confucius Institutes of Jilin University have also embarked on a brand new stage of development. In the future, the northeast base for international Chinese education at Jilin University will spare no efforts to support overseas Confucius Institutes and will cooperate with them in such areas as teacher training, academic exchanges, postdoctoral research and discipline construction, and make concerted effort to build outstanding Confucius Institutes with the integrated characteristics of Jilin University and other colleges and universities, and even the Global Model Confucius Institute.

Li Yuanyuan making concluding remarks

The northeast base for international Chinese education at Jilin University undertakes multi-field tasks, such as the training of Chinese teachers and volunteers for the Confucius Institutes throughout the world, the delivery of excellent Chinese language talents, the compilation of nationalized Chinese teaching materials, the training of foreign native teachers of Chinese, the supply of Confucius Institute teachers, and the conduct of international Chinese language education research. Up to now, Jilin University has hosted 30 training sessions of Chinese teachers and volunteers for Confucius Institute Headquarters (Hanban), with a total number of 4,150 trainees.