2017 “Confucius Institute Open Day” Held in Beijing

On September 29th, 2017 Confucius Institute “Open Day” was held in Beijing. About 400 people including diplomatic envoys from foreign embassies and consulates of 24 countries in China, representatives of member units of Confucius Institute Headquarters Council, Chinese partner institutions in Beijing, social organizations, Chinese-funded enterprises, Beijing Municipal Commission of Education, Dongcheng District and Xicheng District, media and candidates of HSK exam of Confucius Institute participated in the activity.

Welcome Ceremony

Zhao Guocheng

The theme of “Open Day” in this year is “My Story with Confucius Institute”. The welcome ceremony of “Open Day” started at 14:00 in the afternoon. Zhao Guocheng, Deputy Chief Executive of the Confucius Institute Headquarters presided over the ceremony. Jin Nuo, Secretary of the Party Committee of Renmin University of China, Grigor Kaliniv Porozhanov, Bulgarian Ambassador to China, Liu Li, President of Beijing Language and Culture University and Paul Bell, Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Confucius Institute at the University of Oklahoma in the US addressed successively. Ma Jianfei, Deputy Chief Executive of the Confucius Institute Headquarters and Deputy Director-General of Hanban addressed and announced the launch of 2017 “Confucius Institute Open Day”.

Jin Nuo

Jin Nuo said that Renmin Unversity of China will take an active participation in and give full support for the building of the Confucius Institute, striving to build it as an international platform for school exchanges and a platform for promoting Chinese culture and conducting research on contemporary China. At present, 13 Confucius Institutes with unique features and great influence have been established in 11 countries of America, Europe, Asia and Africa, of which 7 Confucius Institutes had celebrated the 10th anniversary of their establishment. The Confucius Institute plays an important and positive part in people-to-people and cultural exchanges between China and other countries and builds a bridge for the communication among people of all ethnic groups and colors who speak different languages.

Grigor Kaliniv Porozhanov

Grigor Kaliniv Porozhanov expressed that Bulgaria and China enjoy long-standing friendly relations. There are 2 Confucius Institutes, 3 universities and 7 primary and secondary schools in Bulgaria, with more than 4000 students studying Chinese. Over the years, the Confucius Institutes of Sophia University and the St. Cyril and St. Methodius University of Veliko Tarnovo have engaged in the in-depth language teaching and academic research and organized colorful cultural activities. They play an irreplaceable part in increasing Bulgarian’s understanding of China and upgrading the exchanges and cooperation between the two countries in education, culture and economy.

Liu Li

Liu Li said that the Confucius Institute has became an important platform for the world to know about China and a tie and bridge linking the hearts of people all around the world, as well as plays an important role in building the international image of China and spreading Chinese culture. As a university established the most Confucius Institutes in China, and one of the universities that dispatches the most Chinese language teachers, Beijing Language and Culture University has actively participated in the construction of the Confucius Institutes over the years. In the future, the University will actively cooperate with national strategy to enhance the capacity construction and increase the influence of the Confucius Institute based on the training center for Confucius Institute teachers.

Paul Bell

Paul Bell introduced the original reason of the establishment of the Confucius Institute at University of Oklahoma. He said that owing to the Confucius Institute, students and faculty of University of Oklahoma could embrace the opportunity to learn Chinese language and culture, engage with extensive personnel exchanges with China and have a deeper insight about China through translating and publishing contemporary Chinese literary works. The significance of the Confucius Institute at University of Oklahoma lies in continuously realizing the grand vision of the harmonious co-existence of the two peoples and the universal harmony at large via staying true to the original aspiration of its establishment 11 years ago.

Ma Jianfei

Ma Jianfei introduced the achievements reaped in the blooming development of the Confucius Institute since its establishment 13 years ago and its unique role in people-to-people and cultural exchanges between China and foreign countries, saying that the theme of the “Confucius Institute Headquarters Open Day” this year is “My Story with Confucius Institute”. Over 360 Confucius Institutes and Confucius Classrooms of more than 100 countries host various colorful activities to celebrate the “Confucius Institute Day”. As the Confucius Institutes around the world are a big international family, everyone involved surely has certain wonderful stories, memorable experiences and unique feelings. It is believed that the stories of the Confucius Institute will be more and more marvelous under the strong support of different sectors of the society both at home and abroad. Ma Jianfei noted that aiming at the target of forging the Confucius Institute a platform for the world to learn about China and to exchanges and learn from each other between Chinese and foreign civilizations, the Confucius Institute will continue to adhere to the principle of mutual respect, friendly negotiations, and mutual benefit, join hands with all sectors of China and foreign countries to blaze new trails, constantly level up education quality, and strive to provide more excellent service for peoples of all nations to learn Chinese language and engage in cultural exchanges, so as to make new and greater contributions to building a world featuring long-lasting peace, common prosperity, openness and inclusiveness

Story Collection of the Confucius Institute

Cultural Salon between the East and West

Activities with award

Cuisine buffet

After the welcome ceremony, a rich variety of cultural activities were held to illustrate the abundant connotations of the Confucius Institutes as the bridge and bond of the exchanges between Chinese and foreign cultures. The activity of Story Collection invited Directors of the Confucius Institute, Chinese language teachers, volunteers, representatives of students and others to share their stories with the Confucius Institutes through speeches and dialogues. The Culture Salon consisted of three parts: “New Compositions with Ancient Style, Beautiful Music Transmitted through Confucius Institutes”, “Literature and Confucius Institutes”, and “China Onscreen”, which respectively invited Jia Guoping from Central Conservatory of Music, famous writer Alai, Dai Jinhua from Peking University, new prominent Director Li Ruijun and other celebrities to share experience in the international communication of music, literature and films. The New Manufactures with Intelligence invited IFLYTEK CO.LTD., xuetangX.com, Shanghai WORDOOR Technology Co.LTD. and international principals of HSK to discuss on conducting Chinese language teaching through innovative means.

At present, 516 Confucius Institutes and 1,076 Confucius Classrooms in primary and secondary schools all over 142 countries and regions have cultivated over 7 million students of various types, and provided cultural activities for nearly 100 million of the audience.