On the morning of October 22th, 2015, the annual meeting of UK Confucius Institutes and Classrooms was convened at the Wenhua Restaurant near Buckingham Palace. Chinese President Xi Jinping attended the opening ceremony and delivered a speech during his state visit to the UK. Before the meeting, President Xi met university delegates from both China and Britain. President Li Xiaohong of Wuhan University also participated in relevant activities.
The agenda and discussion topics for the meeting included the sustainable development of Confucius Institutes and Classes, a five-year plan for the years 2015-2020, aspects of the curriculum and academic quality, efforts to deepen integration and cooperation among Chinese and foreign universities, and the new Confucius Chinese Studies plan. President Li led a discussion in English with Ian Diamond, principal of WHU's partner university, University of Aberdeen.
During the discussion, President Li commented on plans for Confucius Institutes co-established by Wuhan University and its partner universities since WHU is responsible for organizing four Confucius Institutes. The focus lies in always striving for continuous improvement and development of the academic quality and unique characteristics of education and teaching. These important elements influence and ensure the sustainable development of Confucius Institutes. Working together to manage and run the institutes, Chinese and foreign universities should cooperate fully with each other to achieve a mutually beneficial, or win-win situation.
Besides leaders from Chinese and British cooperative universities, directors representing Confucius Institutes from both sides also attended the meeting. President Li met with UOA’s principal and director of Confucius Institute and discussed deeper cooperation between the two universities, including joint scientific research and training. Upon Li’s invitation, Principal Ian Diamond of Aberdeen plans to pay a visit to Wuhan University in January of next year.
Wuhan University and the University of Aberdeen have an established relationship and a history of communication and collaborative academic activities. The Principals of the two universities announced the opening of a Confucius Institute together on September 27th, 2013. The following year, Chair Han Jin led a team to visit UOA, holding a council conference of the Confucius Institute and taking part in relevant activities in September of 2014.
Since its establishment two years ago, The Confucius Institute has been devoted to spreading Chinese language and culture in northeastern Scotland. It developed rapidly and contributed in a meaningful way to the knowledge and understanding of the Chinese language and culture. These types of Sino-British cultural exchanges benefit the people on both sides. Enhanced cooperation between WHU and UOA in future years will create many more colorful and creative programs, expanding the scale of the institute and spreading language and culture throughout eastern and northern Scotland.
(Rewritten by Hanxu Wang, edited by Editing Group, Sijia & Gretchen)
