From the 10th to 11th of December, 2016, the 11th Confucius Institute Conference was held in Kunming. The conference was themed "Innovation, Cooperation, Inclusion and Sharing".
More than 2,200 people from 140 countries and regions were present at the conference, including presidents of universities from around the world, representatives from Confucius Institutes, ambassadors, university representatives who sponsored the conference, and representatives of Chinese enterprises. As Chinese Partner Institute of Confucius Institute at Michigan State University, the OUC dispatched its Vice President Zhang Shaogang and deputy director of Chinese Language Centre Wang Shuo to attend the conference.
Vice Premier of the State Council and Chairwoman of Confucius Institute Headquarters Council Committee Liu Yandong attended the conference and delivered the keynote speech. She reviewed the construction of Confucius Institute over the past year. She stressed that in this new era, it is in the common interest of people around the world to build a new type of international relationship with cooperation and a win-win philosophy at its core and work together to create a community where the future of all people is interconnected. She also put forward four expectations: First, continue to deepen the reform and innovation in "Three Aspects of Teaching" (tutor, teaching materials, and teaching methodology), make full use of "Internet Plus", new media, and other modern technologies to carry out the online teaching of MOOCs and mobile Internet teaching. Second, gradually improve the mechanism of the Council Committee, promote the deep integration of cooperative school running, strengthen China's strong support, study and formulate policies of “Individual Policy for Individual Confucius Institute” and “Individual Policy for Individual Country” to better support the running of the Confucius Institutes. Third, promote the localisation development of the Confucius Institutes, adopt the concept of openness and inclusion to develop the Confucius Institutes according to specific local conditions. Fourth, take the initiative to serve the "Belt and Road" strategy, build a platform for both Chinese and foreign enterprises, strengthen vocational skills training, strengthen the construction of Confucius Institutes, support the building of a cooperation mechanism between the Confucius Institutes in different regions and countries, and strive to help it benefit people around the world.
During the conference, a dean’s forum, president’s forum, and round-table forum were all held. They discussed many issues such as the construction of Confucius Institutes and the "Belt and Road" initiative, inter-college cooperation, the mechanism enhancement of Confucius Institutes and their future development. The closing ceremony was presided over by Ma Jianfei, deputy director of Hanban. Vice minister of MOE Hao Ping delivered a theme report on China's education reform and opening up.
The OUC Chinese Language Centre has long been committed to the research and practice of "Internet Plus" based Confucius Institute. By leveraging the advantages of IT and distance education of the OUC, the university has cooperated with Michigan State University for ten years in running the first global online Confucius Institute. By grasping this golden opportunity for deep exchanges and cooperation between the OUC and Hanban, during the conference, the OUC representatives exchanged views with the foreign director and deputy directors of the Confucius Institute at Michigan State University on new topics such as the future development of Confucius Institute.
By Zhang Xiangwen, OUC