Representatives from Sapporo University Attend Council of Confucius Institute

On December 4^th, the President of Sapporo University, Sato Toshio, Chairman Kaneshiro Hideki, President of the Confucius Institute, ZHANG Weixiong and Secretary of Confucius Institute of Sapporo University, Kase Shinji paid a visit to GDUFS. A warm welcome was offered by the President of GDUFS, ZHONG Weihe in the VIP Hall in the Administrating Building. Also attending were the Director of International Office, CAI Hong, Dean of the Faculty of Asian Languages and Cultures (FALC), CHEN Duoyou, Dean of the Institute of International Education LIANG XueHong, and Dean of the Chinese side of the Confucius Institute of Sapporo University, PAN Jiemin.

Cordial talks between Zhong Weihe and Sato Toshio

The Sapporo delegation focused on the 10^th Council of the Confucius Institute of Sapporo University, citing expectations of further achievements of the Confucius Institute. Sato Toshio said that the Confucius Institute bridged two cultures and helped solidify the bond between our countries. During the council, both sides expressed their wishes of deepening the cooperation to promote Confucius Institute.

Both sides exchanging gifts

In the afternoon, the 10^th Confucius Institute Council was held at the Third Assembly Room in the Administrating Building. Those present included the President of Sapporo University, Sato Toshio, Chairman Kaneshiro Hideki, President of the Confucius Institute, ZHANG Weixiong and Secretary of the Confucius Institute of Sapporo University, Kase Shinji. Also present were Vice President of GDUFS, Gu Yeli, the Vice Director of the International Office WU Junfeng, the Dean of Chinese-side of the Confucius Institute of Sapporo University, PAN Jiemin and the Assistant Director of the GDUFS International Office, Yu Liuyi.

All the attendees in the council

The President of Confucius Institute, ZHANG Weixiong and the Secretary of the Confucius Institute of Sapporo University, Kase Shinji, gave a detailed report of the progress the Institute had achieved in 2014. According to their presentation, a series of celebrations with lectures, salons and speech contests concerning Chinese culture were included. The celebration was held by Sapporo University, this year, for the 10^th anniversary of the establishment of the Confucius Institute. In  September of this year, a Japanese culture feast was celebrated at GDUFS thanks to the visit of the Japan-China cultural exchange delegation. In addition, 2 groups of students were given the chance to go to Japan for further study and research. Meanwhile, the Confucius Institute of Sapporo University was active and presented Confucius Institute seminars at celebrations held by other Asian countries, all of which helps in the exchange of information and in lifting Chinese language teaching to new heights.

In line with the agenda, the board accomplished the leadership transition. Vice President of GDUFS CHEN Hanlin will be Vice President of the Council, the Vice Director of the GDUFS International Office, WU Junfeng, will take the place of the former Director of International Office, Dean of Teaching Affairs, JIAO Fangtai. The council also discussed some issues related to sending Chinese teachers abroad, selecting a new President of the Institute, the plans and budget of 2014 and other matters of concern in the next Council sessions. Both China and Japan made the pledge that they would spare no efforts to make contributions to the development of the Confucius Institute and to China-Japan culture exchanges.

It is reported that the Confucius Institute of Sapporo University is the first overseas Confucius Institute established in the name of GDUFS and Guangdong. Every year, funds from NOCFL (China National Office for Teaching Chinese as Foreign Language) flow to the institute from which GDUFS receives a number of Summer or Winter Camp students for study and cultural exchange with students from FALC of GDUFS.