7th Joint Conference of Confucius Institutes in Latin America Held in Peru

On August 18th local time, the 2017 Joint Conference of Confucius Institutes in Latin America was held in Lima, capital city of Peru. The conference was sponsored by Confucius Institute Headquarters/Hanban and organized by the Confucius Institute at Pontifical Catholic University of Peru. More than 120 guests attended the conference, including representatives of 30 Confucius Institutes from 11 Latin American countries, colleges and universities of China and other countries, the Chinese Embassy in Peru, the Confucius Institute Headquarters, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Peru and the Ministry of Culture of Peru. Jia Guide, Chinese Ambassador to Peru, Raúl Molina, Special Representative of Peruvian Minister of Culture and Senior Advisor to Peruvian Minister of Culture, Marcial Rubio Correa, Rector of Pontifical Catholic University of Peru, Yang Li, Vice President of Shanghai International Studies University, Jing Wei, Deputy Chief Executive of the Confucius Institute Headquarters and Deputy Director-General of Hanban and others were present at the opening ceremony and delivered speeches.

Yang Li, Vice President of Shanghai International Studies University delivering a speech

Yang Li, Vice President of Shanghai International Studies University, pointed out that under the support of Hanban and high-quality resources of Shanghai International Studies University and Pontifical Catholic University of Peru, the Confucius Institute at Pontifical Catholic University of Peru would continue to forge ahead and try to lead the Chinese language education in Peru, becoming a vital platform for cultural exchange and academic cooperation between China and Peru.

Marcial Rubio, Rector of Pontifical Catholic University of Peru delivering a speech

Rector of Pontifical Catholic University of Peru Marcial Rubio indicated that on the occasion of the university’s centennial anniversary, it was a great honor to hold 2017 Joint Conference of Confucius Institutes in Latin America here. He would like to extend gratitude and congratulation to the vigorous development of Confucius Institutes in Latin America, especially the fruitful achievements that have been gained since the operation of the Confucius Institute at Pontifical Catholic University of Peru. Rector Marcial Rubio promised that the university would, as always, continue to support the development of Confucius Institutes and take them as a platform to further strengthen Peru’s educational and cultural exchanges and cooperation with China, making greater contributions to the promotion of the friendship and understanding between China and Peru.

Jia Guide, Chinese Ambassador to Peru delivering a speech

Jia Guide, Chinese Ambassador to Peru, said in his speech that China and Peru have stepped into a comprehensive strategic partnership at present. A variety of activities about Chinese language and culture held by Confucius Institutes have made great contributions to the promotion of educational and cultural communications and exchanges between the two countries. Looking into the future, he sincerely hoped that Confucius Institutes would better meet differentiated demands of the locals and focus on the practicability of the language and culture, with a view to further strengthen China’s friendship with Peru and that with other Latin American countries. Meanwhile, the Chinese Embassy in Peru will continue to support the development of Confucius Institutes as always and work together with all to deepen the friendship and cooperation between China and Peru and that between China and other Latin American countries.

Raúl Molina, Special Representative of Peruvian Minister of Culture and Senior Advisor to Peruvian Minister of Culture delivering a speech

Raúl Molina, Special Representative of Peruvian Minister of Culture and Senior Advisor to Peruvian Minister of Culture said in his speech that with the establishment of Latin America’s first Confucius Institute in Mexico, Confucius Institutes have sprung up all across the Latin America in the past decade. We congratulated on and appreciated that. He also hoped to further deepen the educational and cultural exchanges between China and Latin America through cooperative school running of Confucius Institutes, and to take this as an opportunity to promote the comprehensive cooperation between China and Latin America in politics, economy, trade, science and technology, and other fields.

Jing Wei, Deputy Chief Executive of the Confucius Institute Headquarters and Deputy Director-General of Hanban delivering a speech

Jing Wei, Deputy Chief Executive of the Confucius Institute Headquarters and Deputy Director-General of Hanban, delivered a keynote speech at the conference. She pointed out that with deeper cooperation between China and Latin America in politics, economy, culture and education, Confucius Institutes are enjoying a great opportunity for development. In the past few years, with joint efforts of both sides, plentiful accomplishments have been achieved by Confucius Institutes in Latin America, which are also important contributions in promoting mutual understanding and relationship. Jing Wei also said that in the future, following measures should be carried out in Confucius Institutes under the principle of “innovation, cooperation, inclusiveness and sharing”. First, we shall strength strategic planning and top-level designs; second, we need to constantly improve educational quality and concept of Confucius Institutes; third, the capacity for sustainable development of the institutes needs to be enhanced accordingly; fourth, Sino-foreign cooperation shall be strengthened with the development of more indigenized and specialized institutes. It is hoped that all members could take the advantage of the conference by exchanging ideas and learning from others immensely. The Confucius Institute Headquarters would support wholeheartedly in developing Confucius Institutes in Latin America, and carefully take advice and suggestions from the attendees and stand together with local Confucius Institutes to meet and cope with challenges and seek common development.

A group photo of the delegates

The conference lasted for two days, consisting of one session of experience-sharing and three sessions of panel discussion. The delegates discussed on such four topics as the development strategy of serving universities, forging cultural branding of Confucius Institutes, training local Chinese teachers to improve the teaching quality of Confucius Institutes and establishing alumni associations of Confucius Institutes, all in bid to further enhance the institutes’ educational quality and brand influence.