On April 20th, the establishment and unveiling ceremony of Hubei Province Confucius Institute Alliance was held at Hubei University. Representatives of 11 alliance members, including the Chinese International Education Foundation, Hubei Provincial Department of Education, Hubei Provincial Association for International Exchange of Education, Wuhan University, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Central China Normal University and so on attended the meeting. The establishment conference was presided over by Huang Nianping, Director of the Foreign Cooperation and Exchange Department of the Hubei Provincial Department of Education. HUAT’s vice principal Zhang Hongxia and the leaders of the International Cooperation and Exchange Department and Finance Department attended the ceremony.
The conference announced the constitution solution, council members, and list of members of the alliance. Jiang Tao, President of the Hubei Education International Exchange Association and Vice President of Hubei University, stated in his welcoming speech that Hubei Province Confucius Institute Alliance will respond to development strategy needs of the country and Hubei Province, combine the respective advantages of local places and universities in Hubei, tell the humanistic story of Hubei and spread the voice of Hubei well, and strive to showcase a realistic, three-dimensional, and comprehensive China to the world. Fully promote the development of diverse and colorful world civilizations, and contribute the Hubei Plan and Hubei wisdom to build a community of shared future for mankind.
Li Xiaoshu, Chairman of Hubei Province Confucius Institute Alliance and Minister of the International Exchange Department of Wuhan University, said that Confucius Institutes are increasingly becoming an important comprehensive platform for universities to expand international academic exchanges and scientific research collaboration, and the role and influence are increasing. He believes that the establishment of the alliance is an important practice to better exert the advantages of local places and universities in Hubei, respond to national strategic needs, and deepen the opening up of education in Hubei Province to the outside world.
Yu Yunfeng, Deputy Secretary-General of China International Chinese Education Foundation, expressed warm congratulations on the establishment of Hubei Province Confucius Institute Alliance on behalf of the Foundation. He affirmed the collaborative innovation concept of Hubei Province Confucius Institute Alliance Conference and said that the establishment of the alliance will become a new starting point for universities in Hubei Province to jointly build Confucius Institutes to achieve sustainable and high-quality development，become a new driving force for Hubei Province to expand the opening up of education to the outside world, and become a new platform for the world to better understand Hubei's brilliant history and culture and high-quality development in the new era. Under the new institutional mechanism, the alliance must adhere to openness, strengthen collaboration, and continuous innovation to create a win-win and symbiotic Confucius Institute ecosystem and development community.
At the meeting, Yu Yunfeng, Jiang Tao, Li Xiaoshu and Huang Nianping jointly unveiled Hubei Province Confucius Institute Alliance.
As a newly approved Confucius Institute construction university in Hubei Province, Zhang Hongxia said that HUAT will rely on Hubei Province Confucius Institute Alliance, and give full play to the local advantages of Wudang culture and Hanshui culture, form the characteristics of "Chinese + Automotive Engineering Technology", which strengthen the connection with related enterprises, cultivate local compound talents, and promote the construction and development of international Chinese education.
It is reported that Hubei Province Confucius Institute Alliance will promote the construction of the connotation of Confucius Institutes, promote the world's multicultural exchanges and mutual learning, and promote people-to-people and cultural exchanges and economic and trade exchanges with the purpose of "linking China and foreign countries in one language, and creating win-win cooperation"， which effectively serve the "the Belt and Road" initiative. The basic tasks of Hubei Province Confucius Institute Alliance include deepening the reform of teachers, teaching materials and teaching methods, building an interconnected platform such as the Confucius Institute and International Chinese Education Resource Database, Teacher Pool, and online courses in Hubei Province, holding international Chinese teacher skills competitions and Confucius Institute summer camps, and promoting friendly cooperation between Chinese and foreign partner universities in education, culture, tourism, economy and trade.
