The fifth anniversary of the Confucius Institute at the University of Zaragoza was celebrated in the auditorium of the University of Zaragoza. Mr. WU Haitao, Chinese Ambassador in Spain, Javier Lambán, President of the Government of Aragon, Jorge Azcón Navarro, Mayor of Zaragoza, Prof. Jose Antonio Murillo, President of the University of Zaragoza, together with other leaders of more than 10 Confucius Institutes in Spain attended the celebration. Prof. Qiao Xu, President of Nanjing Tech University, delivered a video message.
Ambassador Wu Haitao said that thanks to the joint efforts, the Confucius Institute at the University of Zaragoza has been actively carrying out Chinese language teaching activities and various cultural events since its founding, making positive contributions to enhancing mutual understanding and friendship and promoting the exchange between different civilizations. He believed that people-to-people friendship holds the key to good state-to-state relations, and hoped that the Confucius Institute at the University of Zaragoza would continue to serve as a bridge between the two sides and make a new contribution to the strategic partnership between China and the West.
Prof. Qiao Xu, President of Nanjing Tech University, expressed his heartfelt gratitude to the leading officials at all levels and all those who have been supporting and promoting the development of the Confucius Institute at the University of Zaragoza. He said that over the past five years, the Confucius Institute has started from scratch and made great achievements, focusing on the construction of “Confucius Institute for Humanities” and “Confucius Institute for Science and Technology”. Both of the universities took the cooperation as an opportunity to achieve fruitful outcomes in the field of scientific research and innovation and talent training. He pointed out that education cooperation is the cornerstone of promoting cultural and people-to-people exchanges, and believed that in the future, the ancient civilizations of China and the West, through cooperation, exchanges, and integration, will generate new impetus propelling the two sides to a higher level of common development in education.
In his speech, Prof. Jose Antonio Murillo, President of the University of Zaragoza, gave full affirmation to the active role played by the Confucius Institute in promoting cooperation between the two universities. He expressed that the Confucius Institute has witnessed the friendship between the two universities and hoped that it would continue to inject new vitality and impetus to the development of cooperation between the two universities, and the greater mutual learning and exchange between China and the West.
Mr. Zhao Lingshan, Vice President and Secretary-General of the Chinese International Education Foundation, sent a congratulatory letter on behalf of the Foundation, pointing out that with the sincere cooperation of both universities, the Confucius Institute has achieved remarkable results. Performances related to traditional Chinese culture like dragon and lion dances, calligraphy, and folk music were presented by the representatives of the Confucius Institute at the celebration.
Since the establishment of the Confucius Institute at the University of Zaragoza, NanjingTech has sent more than 20 teachers and volunteers, developed 2 teaching sites, and enrolled a total of nearly 4,000 students. Focusing on the construction of “Confucius Institute for Science and Technology”, Nanjing Tech University has strengthened its cooperation with the University of Zaragoza in the area of scientific research and training of innovative talents. For example, three Sino-Spanish Research and Innovation Forums were successfully held, the overseas base for visiting scholars and doctoral students of Nanjing Tech University was established, and the EU Erasmus＋ Program was approved. The two sides are now discussing the China-Foreign cooperation in running schools to seek more areas of cooperation. In the coming years, Nanjing Tech University will further expand cooperation while striving to build a model Confucius Institute and continue to take real actions to build a community with a shared future for mankind and contribute to the Belt and Road Initiative.
