The grand first-anniversary celebration of the Chinese International Education Foundation (CIEF) was held in Beijing on July 23.During the event, the CIEF issued letters of authorization to seven newly established Confucius Institutes and awarded charity titles to 16 donating enterprises for their charitable donations.Yang Wei, president of the CIEF and academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, attended the event. Online and offline participants of the event included hundreds of representatives from cooperative institutions, both at home and abroad, of the newly established Confucius Institutes and from the donating enterprises.The event was hosted by Zhao Lingshan, vice president and secretary-general of the CIEF.
Founded in June 2020, the CIEF and its Chinese and foreign partners have always adhered to the concept of mutual respect, friendly negotiation, and win-win cooperation. Insisting on integrity and innovation, the CIEF has completed Confucius Institute (Classroom) brand licensing across the world, supported the establishment of seven regional Confucius Institute alliances, extensively raised funds from all walks of life, and boosted the ecological vitality for the coordinated development of the Confucius Institute.In his speech, Yang Wei expressed, “the CIEF and its cooperative partners, both at home and abroad, have taken over and will continue the grandiose chapter of international Chinese education of the Confucius Institute. We have joined our hands together and stood shoulder to shoulder and above all else, we have our hearts connected.”
The Global Confucius Institute Family Greets New Members
At present, more than 500 Confucius Institutes (Classrooms) around the world, which have, in general, been operating well, have obtained the letter of authorization issued by the CIEF.Despite suspended classes due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Confucius Institutes (Classrooms) insist on following the guidelines of continued teaching and learning. For this purpose, they have innovatively developed a model, which integrates both online and offline scenarios, using digital teaching and cloud cultural activities, which has won high praise from Chinese learners worldwide.Meanwhile, the demand for learning Chinese around the world has continued to grow. Over the past year, more than 60 Chinese and foreign institutions have applied to the CIEF and expressed their intention to run a Confucius Institute.
A new Confucius Institute was established by Ternopil Volodymyr Hnatiuk National Pedagogical University, Ukraine, and Shenyang Normal University.“Now we are facing an interesting and important task, that is to help the youth of both China and Ukraine find a common language and promote effective development of the two countries.Establishing a new Confucius Institute together with Shenyang Normal University serves alright as the breakthrough to accomplish the task,” said the Ukraine University President, Buyak Bogdan.
Juan Espadas, Mayor of Seville, Spain remarked that “we firmly believe that a diversified society should always strengthen its understanding of other cultures. Chinese culture, among others, is one of the cultures now we need to know the most.”Jose Manuel Seville, president of the University of Seville, mentioned that “Gansu province and Seville have many in common in terms of tourism, commerce, and transportation. The joint establishment of a new Confucius Institute by the University of Seville and Lanzhou Jiaotong University has become an important link between China and Spain.”
Alexandria University of Egypt and Shanghai University established a new Confucius Institute, and the two parties will join hands to promote Chinese language education and cultural exchanges.
Gerry Palmer, former mayor of Bangor, Maine, said: “We will work with our partner Heilongjiang College of Education to achieve greater progress in Chinese language teaching, cultural exchanges, business cooperation, and enhancing the friendship between Chinese and American people.”
Jiang Gaojun, CEO of South Korea Grand Education Group noted that the Rainbow Confucius Classroom in South Korea, which started its operation in September 2014, will continue to cooperate with the Education and Training Center for Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language of Jilin after being updated to Confucius Institute.It is currently the only Confucius Institute that is established in cooperation with a foreign corporation instead of a foreign university.Today the Rainbow Confucius Institute houses more than 40,000 students and over 1,000 Chinese teachers. The two parties will orient the future development of the Rainbow Confucius Institute towards “international, non-governmental, and professional.”
Prof. Dr. Mahmoud El-Metin, president of Ain Shams University mentioned that as a university boasts a long history, Ain Shams University was the first university in the world to have a Chinese Department which was set up as early as 1959 and the largest one too.Ain Shams University and Guangdong University of Foreign Studies work together to upgrade the Confucius Classroom to the Confucius Institute. The partners will continue to promote its healthy development and contribute to more extensive and comprehensive cooperation between China and Egypt.
“The Confucius Institute, established by the Cambodia-China Polytechnic University together with the Nanjing Vocational University of Industry Technology, will enhance the Cambodian people's understanding of the Chinese language and culture and deepen the cooperation between China and Cambodia in Chinese language teaching and vocational skills training, so as to contribute to the building of a community of shared future between the two countries,” remarked Fang Qiaosheng, chairman of the Federation of Khmer Chinese in Cambodia and chairman of the Cambodia-China Polytechnic University.
Join Hands and Walk Far Together
—16 Institutions Make Donations to International Chinese Language Education
Since its establishment, the CIEF has raised social resources through various channels to support the development of international Chinese education.In addition to the voluntary donations from the CIEF’s sponsors, 16 enterprises have successively donated funds and materials, amounting to a total of more than RMB 65 million.The Beijing Language and Culture University Press, China University of Political Science and Law Press, Wuhan University Education & Development Foundation, and Wycombe Abbey School in Changzhou were awarded as 2020–2021 Confucius Institute Partners.Sichuan University Hi-Tech Group Co., Ltd., Tianjin University Research Institute of Architectural Design and Urban Planning Co., Ltd., Huazhong University of Science and Technology Education Development Foundation, Communication University of China Press, Central South University Press, Sun Yat-sen University Education Development Foundation, Central China Normal University Education Development Foundation, and Sichuan Southwestern University of Finance and Economics Asset Management Co., Ltd. were awarded as 2020–2021 Charity Supporting Partners of the Confucius Institute.Finally, Weimei Tiancheng Technology (Beijing) Co., Ltd., Shanghai Haihe Medical Technology Co., Ltd., Zouxiang Weilai Cultural Development (Beijing) Co., Ltd., and Beijing Heming Education Consulting Co., Ltd. were awarded as 2020–2021 Benevolent Sponsoring Enterprises.
Hao Yun, president of Beijing Language and Culture University Press, stated that Beijing Language and Culture University Press is a business peer of Confucius Institutes around the world and has benefited much from their development, so naturally, it should also make its share of contributions. Beijing Language and Culture University Press shares the same original inspirations and goals as the Confucius Institute, which are to promote the Chinese language and culture.Kan Qinghao, the Chinese principal of Wycombe Abbey School Changzhou, said that “as a private school committed to internationalization and partner of the Confucius Institute, Wycombe Abbey School plans to set up a scholarship of RMB 50 million to support the promotion of Chinese language and culture.”Wang Jinyou, general manager of Sichuan University Hi-Tech Group Co., Ltd. remarked that the CIEF and the Confucius Institute are critical institutions in promoting cultural exchanges between China and foreign countries, and Sichuan University Hi-Tech Group wishes to help create a better environment for the internationalization of universities and enterprises through supporting the development of the Confucius Institute by making donations.Representatives of other donor institutions also indicated that they are fulfilling the social responsibility of supporting public welfare by donating to the Confucius Institute and international Chinese language education through the CIEF and that at the same time, they also cherish the hope that the Confucius Institute will play a greater role in promoting cultural exchanges between China and foreign countries and will enhance international understanding.
The CIEF appreciates the donations from the institutions and looks forward to more Chinese and foreign firms becoming supporters and partners of international Chinese language education and the Confucius Institute so that they can build a bright future together.
