University of Szeged, Konfucius Institute - Ahol tudás és szándék találkozik
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CI NEWS ARCHIVES
2013
The Confucius Institute at University of Szeged participated in the 8th Conference of Confucius Institutes around the world
The 8th Conference of Confucius Institutes around the world took place on December the 7-8th, 2013. The Confucius Institute at University of Szeged was represented by Lívia Szentmártoni and Zhang Xuemei directors. In representation of our partner university, Shanghai International Studies University Xu Baomei and the General-Secretary of SISU Confucius Institutes and International Chinese Education Center, and Ge Qichao, the vice-dean of SISU Institute for International Cultural Exchange also participated in the conference.
More than two thousand people – directors from 440 Confucius Institute of 120 countries, rectors and vice-rectors of Chinese-foreign partner universities – participated in the two-day event. The opening speech at the opening ceremony of the conference was delivered by Vice-Premier Liu Yandong. In her speech she praised the hard work of the Confucius Institutes with which they are satisfying the ever-growing international demand and interest for Chinese Language Education. She stressed out the major role of the Institutes in strengthening bilateral relations, the building of friendly relations and mutual understanding between China and other foreign countries. Vice-Premier Liu expressed her hope that the Institutes will train even more teachers and publish successful books in the coming year.
On the occasion of the opening ceremony, Xu Lin, the General Director of the Center of the Confucius Institutes delivered a speech as well, who pointed out that in the year 2013, 850 thousand students studied in Confucius Institutes worldwide, 30 per cent more than in the previous year; the Institutes organized 2000 cultural events and more than 500 lectures. In her speech, Xu Lin also expressed her hope that the special retraining of the directors of the Institutes organized in cooperation with the Xiamen University may begin within two years, by means of which the Institutes will be able to operate more successfully.
On the two-day event, the participators were also welcomed to join an education fair on which the newly published educational books and multimedia studying materials were displayed. Panels and workshops were also organized on the fair, on which the representatives of institutes and universities discussed the results, experiences and suggestions of the two-day conference with their colleagues. Besides the conference and the exhibition, participants had the opportunity to meet respective directors of different departments of Hanban in order to discuss their questions and their programs regarding the year 2014.
On the closing ceremony of the event, General Director Xu Lin summarized the events of the two-day conference and answered the main questions raised during the conference. On the closing ceremony, Nobel-prize winner Mo Yan Chinese writer delivered a speech with the title ’Confucius in my eyes’.
