Xiamen University holds 2015 Pre-service Training Session for Chinese Directors of Confucius Institutes in Asia and Africa

On the morning of July 4, the 2015 Pre-service Training Session for Chinese Directors of Confucius Institutes in Asia and Africa was officially inaugurated on Xiang’an Campus of Xiamen University. The program was sponsored by Confucius Institute Headquarters (Hanban) and hosted by Xiamen University. Mr. Xia Jianhui, Deputy Chief Executive of the Confucius Institute Headquarters and Deputy Director General of Hanban, and Ms. Zhan Xinli, Vice-President of Xiamen University, attended the ceremony and delivered their speeches. The attendees also included a total of 58 Chinese directors from 33 universities who are going to work at 52 Confucius Institutes in Asia and Africa.

While addressing the ceremony, Mr. Xia Jianhui expressed his admiration to the directors for their devotion to the cause of international Chinese language education. He explained in detail the nature and responsibilities of the Confucius Institute and outlined its development plans. As he pointed out, Confucius Institute is still feeling its way ahead, facing many difficulties and challenges. In order to strengthen a sense of vocation in the new directors, Mr. Xia put forward high requirements for them and hoped that they could cherish this precious training opportunity to actively communicate with each other and expand their way of thinking, so as to be fully prepared for their future work abroad.

In Ms. Zhan Xinli speech, she extended her sincere welcome to the future Chinese directors. She focused on explaining the motto of Xiamen University — “patriotism, reform, self-improvement and science”. She believed that these four principles, with the rich meaning behind them, would certainly inspire in the directors a stronger sense of duty.

Mr. Xia Jianhui, Deputy Chief Executive of the Confucius Institute Headquarters and Deputy Director General of Hanban, addressing the ceremony

Ms. Zhan Xinli, Vice-President of Xiamen University, delivering her speech

At the ceremony, Mr. Feng Guanghuo, newly appointed to the Pusat Bahasa Mandarin Universitas Tanjungpura in Indonesia, delivered a speech on behalf of all trainees. He shared his understanding of what it means to serve for the Confucius Institute. He said that the Confucius Institute aims at not only spreading Chinese language and culture, but also encouraging different cultures to learn from each other, and strengthening the friendship between China and the rest of the world. He pointed that as future Chinese directors of the Confucius Institute, they would “embark on a long and arduous journey”.

At the opening ceremony

The opening ceremony of 2015 Pre-service Training Session for Chinese Directors of Confucius Institutes in Asia and Africa sponsored by Confucius Institute Headquarters (Hanban)

Attaching great significance to this one-month training program, the Confucius Institute Headquarters (Hanban) has recruited a team of experts from all over the country to give various well-prepared lectures and seminars to address specific issues in the directors’ future work.

By Su Zixing & Xu Lili