On May 13 – 15, the Joint Conference of Confucius Institutes in Africa sponsored by the Office of Chinese Language Council International and organized by the Confucius Institute of Eduardo Mondlane University was held in Maputo, Mozambique. The conference attracted more than 300 participants including the presidents and deans of over 60 Confucius Institutes and Classrooms in 41 countries of Africa and representatives of Chinese and African enterprises.CSU delegation attended the conference and made a speech on the sub-forum.
Li Zhanshu, the Chairman of the NPC Standing Committee, attended the opening ceremony of the conference and proposed three requirements to Confucius institutes in Africa, i.e. spreading Chinese culture and telling Chinese stories; insisting mutual respect and promoting cultural exchange and mutual learning; highlighting innovative applications on reality and providing assistance for the development of Africa.
In the conference, discussions were made around such issues as “improving the quality of running Confucius Institutes”. Zhou Kechao, Vice President of CSU, spoke glowingly of the planning for construction and development of CSU-DRC Confucius Institute with the theme of “innovation and characteristic development of Confucius Institutes” and expressed the willing of CSU to actively respond to the “Belt and Road Initiative”, coordinate with China’s “SOEs Going Global” strategy, contribute to talent cultivation and economic development of Congo by combining disciplinary characteristics of CSU with national conditions of Congo, and strive to make CSU-DRC Confucius Institute a demonstrative characteristic Confucius Institute.
During the conference, Zhou Kechao also had a friendly consultation with Pirrre Anddre, Dean of Congolese Diplomatic Academy, and Marie Madeleine, the foreign director of the Confucius Institute on the construction of CSU-DRC Confucius Institute.
It is learned that since the establishment of the first Confucius institute more than a decade ago, over 500 Confucius Institutes and over 1,000 Confucius Classrooms at middle and primary schools have been set up in more than 140 countries and regions, playing a unique role in and making positive contributions to the promotion of cultural and educational exchanges between China and foreign countries and the development of the friendship between Chinese and foreign people.
