The first BISU Confucius Institute joint conference was held on Dec 7 in Beijing Foreign Studies University (BISU) with Yu Gang, director of the BISU International Exchange and Cooperation Office being the host and government officials, university presidents and Confucius Institute directors attending the meeting. 

A group photo of the guests

In his speech, Ji Jinbiao, deputy secretary of the CPC BISU Committee and president of the university, emphasized that the joint conference, as a milestone in the development of BISU’s Confucius Institutes, aims to build bridges between the institutes and promote innovation. He also called for commitment to cultural exchanges and mutual learning between civilizations.

Ji delivers a speech.

Manuel Ivan Trejos, general-secretary of the Latin American Parliament (Parlatino), expressed his gratitude for BISU’s warm reception. He emphasized the close partnership between the two sides, saying that the high-quality Chinese courses provided by the Confucius Institute at the University of Panama greatly benefited its staff. He also mentioned that the “Chinese Bridge” competition and art exhibitions held by the two parties received a good response.

Zheng Chengjun, a member of the standing committee of the CPC BISU committee and vice-president of the university, thanked the directors and staff of the Confucius Institutes for their hard work and affirmed their achievements. He promised support for collaboration between the Confucius Institutes and for their innovative development.

Zheng gives a speech.

Luis Rivera Campos, rector of the Autonomous University of Chihuahua and president of its Confucius Institute, stated that the two universities have paid frequent visits to each other and cooperated closely this year. He thanked the Chinese and Mexican directors for their hard work and expressed hope for more cooperation.

Campos delivers a speech.

Teng Xueming, Chinese director of the Confucius Institute at the Autonomous University of Chihuahua, shared the institute’s experience for development. It cooperated with the local government to offer Chinese courses in public schools, opened "Chinese + e-commerce" and Chinese-Spanish conference interpreting classes, held Mexico’s largest training class for the HSK6 test and recommended students for the "Study Abroad" scholarship. This fall, it recommended 34 students to study in BISU offline and 25 online.

He said he hopes that the university will support the institute by sending teachers and experts to jointly build a Chinese culture center.

Teng gives a speech.

Yu Feixia, the British director of the Confucius Institute at the University of Central Lancashire, also shared her institute’s development experience. It established a complete Chinese teaching system covering preschool to university students, and promoted student and teacher exchange between China and Britain in primary and secondary schools. It actively integrated into the communities by holding colorful cultural activities to spread Chinese culture, and was praised by the local government for promoting cultural diversity.

She said she hopes that with the support of BISU, the institute can build bridges between the Chinese and British cultures. 

Yu delivers a speech.

Li Ning, the Chinese director of the Confucius Institute at Mohammed V University, highlighted its "Chinese Language + Tourism" program. She said that the Confucius Institute offered Chinese courses in famous tourist cities in Morocco, especially to the tour guides.

She also outlined the progress of the BISU College (Morocco), analyzed the challenges it faces and expressed gratitude for the guidance from BISU and the strong support from the Moroccan side.

Li delivers a speech.

Pan Xianjun, the Chinese director of the Confucius Institute at Clermont-Ferrand in France, introduced the institute’s basic situation and work plan. He said the institute would collaborate with local universities, primary and secondary schools, enterprises and associations to promote cultural exchanges.

Mary-Françoise Renard, the vice president of the French side emphasized the importance of Confucius Institutes, mentioning that many French people and scholars are interested in Chinese language, cuisine, medicine and history.

Pan and Renard deliver speeches.

Li Xiangmin, the Chinese director of the Confucius Institute at the University of Coimbra, and Katya Echeverría, director of the Confucius Institute at the University of Panama also delivered speeches.

Li gives a speech.

Echeverría makes a speech.

Yu Gang concluded the meeting with four key words: gratitude, gains, bridges and wishes.

Yu concludes the meeting.

BISU has six Confucius Institutes in Mexico, the United Kingdom, Morocco, France, Portugal and Panama, offering courses to over 62,000 people and holding various cultural activities which have been attended by more than 2.6 million people.