On August 13th, a meeting on the implementation of the New Sinology Plan, a Confucius Institute program to improve China’s international image, was held at Wuhan University. The executive vice-president of WHU, Feng Youmei, attended the meeting along with humanities and social science department, research institution and relevant functional department heads.

At the meeting, experts and scholars heatedly discussed how to implement the program. Feng Youmei indicated that New Sinology Plan is a novel scholarship program that will have lasting influence. She expounded that WHU, as a preeminent university in the social sciences in China, must seize this opportunity to attract Sinology scholars around the world to conduct research and develop cooperation with WHU through extensive marketing and active communication.

The Scholarship Program for Overseas Doctoral Students, an important component of the Confucius Institute’s New Sinology Plan, began to have its pilot implementation at 13 universities nationwide this year. In Hubei Province, only WHU has won approval to take part in the program. By enabling scholars to study in China, the program seeks to support young Sinologists and related experts upgrade their research, so that they can more effectively promote Chinese communication internationally, help further cooperation between Chinese and foreign academic institutions, and contribute to friendlier ties between China and other nations. Academic fields involved in this program include Chinese language and culture, history, philosophy, etc. in the humanities field and economics, law, politics, intercultural studies, etc. in the social sciences.