The inaugural conference of the Hubei Province Confucius Institute Alliance was held at Hubei University on April 20, 2023. A total of 11 universities, including Wuhan University, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, and Central China Normal University, have been honored as council members of the Alliance, with the permanent secretarial unit set up at Hubei University. Representatives of the Chinese International Education Foundation, the Education Department of Hubei Province, the Hubei Provincial Education Association for International Exchange, and council members of the Alliance attended the conference.
Presently, 15 Confucius Institute Alliances have been established across China, effectively advancing the overall construction of the Confucius Institute. Wuhan University, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Central China Normal University, Wuhan University of Technology, and Hubei University have set up their own Confucius Institutes in other countries.
It is reported that Hubei Province Confucius Institute Alliance aims to advance its tenet of constructing the Confucius Institute to connect China and the rest of the world with the Chinese and strive for a win-win future through cooperation. The primary tasks of the Alliance include the following: reforming approaches for selecting teachers, textbooks, and teaching methods; establishing and building resources, teaching talent, and online courses for the Confucius Institute and for international Chinese language education and other platforms to interconnect universities in Hubei; organizing skills competitions for international Chinese teachers, Confucius Institute summer camps, and other activities; promoting friendly cooperation between Chinese universities and cooperative universities overseas in education, culture, tourism, economy, and trade.
As expressed by Jiang Tao, president of the Hubei Provincial Education Association for International Exchange and vice president of Hubei University, “Hubei Province Confucius Institute Alliance will spread the humanistic and cultural stories of Hubei and disseminate the voice of Hubei well by combining the local features of Hubei and the unique advantages of the universities in Hubei. The Alliance will try its best to display the true, vivid, and comprehensive images of China to the world and promote the development of world civilization that is diverse and colorful. With the plans and wisdom offered by Hubei, the Alliance will make its due contribution to the construction of a community with a shared future for mankind.”
According to Li Xiaoshu, chairman of Hubei Province Confucius Institute Alliance and director of the International Exchange Department of Wuhan University, “The Confucius Institute has been becoming a key comprehensive platform for universities to expand international academic exchanges and cooperation in scientific research, and its role and influence have become increasingly significant.” As Li Xiaoshu further expressed, “The establishment of the Alliance serves as a key practice in better leveraging local features of Hubei and unique advantages of universities in Hubei, aligning with national strategic demands of China, and deepening the opening up in education of Hubei to the outside world.”
Yu Yunfeng, deputy secretary-general of the Chinese International Education Foundation, expressed, “The establishment of the Alliance shall be considered a new starting point for universities in Hubei to achieve sustainable and high-quality development through joint construction of the Confucius Institute, a new driving force for Hubei to expand its opening up in education to the outside world, and a new platform for the world to better understand the brilliant history and culture, as well as high-quality development in this new era, of Hubei. Under this new institutional mechanism, the Alliance must forge a win-win and symbiotic Confucius Institute ecosystem and a community of shared development by advocating the principles of opening up, strengthening of cooperation and collaboration, and continuous innovation.”
(Reprinted from the electronic app of Changjiang Daily with deletions)
