2018 European Confucius Institutes Joint Conference Held in Greece

On May 21st, local time, the 2018 European Confucius Institutes Joint Conference organized by the Business Confucius Institute in Athens was held in Athens, the capital of Greece.

The conference was attended by Professor Giakoumakis, Rector of Athens University of Economics and Business (AUEB), Zhao Guocheng, Deputy Director-General of Hanban and Deputy Chief Executive of the Confucius Institute Headquarters, Jiang Qingzhe, Director of the Council (membership) of the University of International Business and Economics(UIBE), Wang Qiang, Political Counselor of the Chinese Embassy in Greece, Wang Chao, Cultural Attaché of the Chinese Embassy in Greece, Professor Zu Lijun, Chinese Director of the Business Confucius Institute in Athens and representatives from 33 Confucius Institutes in 14 European countries.

Giakoumakis, Rector of AUEB, introduced the general situation of the Business Confucius Institute in Athens in his speech. He emphasized that since the inauguration of the Business Confucius Institute in Athens, the Institute has now become a window for Greeks to learn about China after about 10-year efforts. Featuring business Chinese, the Business Confucius Institute in Athens allows Greeks to better understand Chinese culture by learning Chinese language. He believed that the Institute will continue to make greater contributions to promoting cultural, educational, and business exchanges between China and Greece.

Giakoumakis delivering a speech

Zhao Guocheng, Deputy Director-General of Hanban and Deputy Chief Executive of the Confucius Institute Headquarters, reviewed the 10-year development course of the Business Confucius Institute in Athens and fully recognized its outstanding achievements in Chinese teaching and cultural activities, as well as its contributions to China-Greece exchange. He said that the key point of this conference is how to improve the running quality Confucius Institutes. He said that, given its large scale, how to make the Confucius Institute run more efficiently with higher quality is the problem we have. He also briefed attendees in detail on the recent measures taken by the Confucius Institute Headquarters (Hanban) to improve the global Chinese teaching quality from the following four aspects: strengthening the building of standard and evaluation system, constantly improving the teaching staff featuring integration of Chinese and foreign, full-time and part-time teachers, implementing international Chinese teaching textbook project and innovating teaching methods.

Zhao Guocheng delivering a speech

Jiang Qingzhe, Director of the Council (membership) of UIBE, pointed out in his speech that both China and Greece are ancient civilizations with time-honored history, and cultural exchanges and business contacts between them have existed since ancient times. In recent years, economic cooperation and cultural exchange between China and Europe have become increasingly frequent. He reviewed the development course of Confucius Institutes in Europe, and pointed out that Confucius Institutes have set up a bridge for mutual understanding between people of China and European countries and played an important role in promoting people-to-people and cultural exchanges among different countries. The Business Confucius Institute in Athens has held many business forums and enterprise fairs, which have facilitated the trade cooperation between the two countries and won the praise from both governments. Meanwhile, he stressed that in the context of economic globalization, Confucius Institutes shoulder great historical missions in strengthening China's discourse right in the international community, enhancing friendship between Chinese and foreign people and promoting common prosperity of the global economy.

Jiang Qingzhe delivering a speech

In his speech, Wang Qiang, Political Counselor of the Chinese Embassy in Greece, based on his working experience, highly praised the important role Confucius Institute has played in promoting people-to-people and cultural exchanges among various countries, deepening friendship among people of various countries, boosting the Belt and Road Initiative, building a new type of international relations and a community with a shared future for mankind. He reviewed the achievements made in recent years in the development of China-Greece relations, and recognized the positive role played by the Business Confucius Institute in Athens in the development of China-Greece relations. In the mean time, he hoped that more Confucius Institutes could be established in Greece in the future through the joint efforts of all parties.

Wang Qiang delivering a speech

Group photo

The 2018 European Confucius Institutes Joint Conference lasted for two days. Representatives from Confucius Institutes in 14 European countries had in-depth exchanges through group discussion on the teaching quality standards and syllabus of Confucius Institutes, opinions and suggestions on the Outline of Supervision of Confucius Institutes, main problems in the development and how to improve the quality of running Confucius Institutes.

(Story by China Greece Times; photos by Confucius Institute Headquarters)