Confucius Institute Chinese Director attends the Joint Conference in Beijing, China

The Joint Conference of Southeast Asian Confucius Institutes was held in Beijing, China on 19-21 July 2023 and was attended by Confucius Institute at the Ateneo de Manila University Chinese Director Dr Liang Guanghan and Project Assistant Ms Paulynne Castillo. They joined 256 other directors, Chinese directors, and school administrators from 46 Southeast Asian CIs, 16 Confucius Classrooms in this annual event hosted by the Chinese International Education Foundation and Beijing Language and Culture University.

This year’s conference, which was themed "Collaborative Innovation, Steadfast Development," brought together CIs from the region to share their achievements, experiences, and best practices in language and culture teaching, teacher training, learning materials development, cultural promotion, and more.

The opening program was led by Prof Zhong Yinghua, President of Tianjin Normal University, where he discussed the 10+1 Mechanism: China-ASEAN Education Exchange and Cooperation (10+1 机制下的中国-东盟教育交通合作).

The plenary session, led by Prof Xie Yonghua, President of the Nanjing Vocational University of Industry and Technology, focused on two main topics. The first was on enhancing coordinated development between Chinese and host institutions, enterprises, social organizations, and other CIs, in order to build mutual support. The second topic was centered around developing courses and programs similar to the Chinese+ Programs developed by Malaysian and Thai CIs that are geared to supporting social and economic development in their respective countries.

After the plenary session, the delegates were divided into three groups to discuss how to implement or adapt the aforementioned two topics in their own communities. Dr. Liang Guanghan led the discussion for the third group, which consisted of delegates from 20 CIs from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam. Dr. Liang then gave a summary of the reports and cases presented during the group discussions at the conference's closing ceremony.

During the conference, Dr. Liang Guanghan was also interviewed by the Chinese International Education Foundation (CIEF) and China News Service (中新社). In the interview, she highlighted past and present projects of the Ateneo Confucius Institute, the importance of developing local Chinese teachers, and the impact of learning Mandarin to the lives of students.

The Confucius Institute at the Ateneo de Manila University is the first institute of its kind established in the Philippines and the 12th in the world. Since its establishment in 2006, it has been promoting Chinese language and culture through classes, cultural events, research, and academic exchanges between the Philippines and China.