The Chinese International Education Foundation, with the support of East China Normal University, held an online Seminar for Local Directors of the Confucius Institute in order to promote understanding of the transformation of Confucius Institute, strengthen the mutual communication and experience sharing among local directors, and also to stimulate the better development of Confucius Institutes in new era. The seminar consisted of lectures and sub-seminars and was held from 6th to 17th September 2021.
Among the five keynote speakers, the first keynote speaker was Mr Zhao Lingshan, vice president and secretary-general of the Chinese International Education Foundation, who made the opening remarks. The second keynote speaker was Professor Zhou Aoying, Vice president of East China Normal University (ECNU), Director of AI+ Institute at ECNU, Professor at School of Data Science and Engineering (DaSE). He was the winner of the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC). His research interests include database, data management, digital transformation, and data-driven applications such as Financial Technology (FinTech), Education Technology (EduTech), and Logistics Technology (LogTech). Professor Zhou Aoying spoke about Digital and Intelligent Education as applicable to Confucius Institutes. The third keynote speaker was Professor Li Yuming who spoke about “Localization+ Internationalization” of Chinese Language Education. He gave a brief of the development of CI with the introduction of ‘Chinese Language Training’ in the early 1950’s, the establishment of the ‘State Leading Group for Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language’ in 1987, and the establishment and development of Confucius Institute in 2004. The fourth keynote speaker was Professor Zhou Ting, Professor and Associate Dean of School of Government and Public Affairs, Communication University of China (CUC), is Chief Expert of the Big Data Analysis Center for Global Public Opinion in CUC and Editor for International Communication. She provides consultancy services for the improvement of public communication and international communication for governments, media, enterprises and cultural institutions. She talked about ‘Shaping the Public Image of Confucius Institute in View of New Media’.
There were also sub-seminars entitled ‘The New Mechanism Promoting Cooperation between the Hosts with the Support from Local Directors’ and ‘The Sustainable Development of Confucius Institute under the Pandemic’ presented by a number of CI Local Directors from different countries. A copy of the programme of the Seminar is available under ‘Services’ tab and ‘Library’ sub-tab.