The Rt. Hon. First Minister Carwyn Jones,
Vice Chancellor John Hughes
President Huang Jin,
Distinguished friends and colleagues, ladies and gentlemen, good evening.
It is a great honour and pleasure for me to attend the inauguration ceremony of the Confucius Institute of Bangor University. Please allow me to use this opportunity to salute Professor Hughes on behalf of the Chinese Embassy for his vision and commitment to promote Chinese studies and for his endeavour to advance education collaboration and people to people exchange between UK and China.
I wish also to extend our warm congratulations to the two great universities, Bangor University and China University of Political Science and Law, on their joining hands in building this new platform and aspiring to achieve collaborations beyond Chinese language and culture studies. This is the first Confucius Institute characterized by its distinct “legal study flavour”in the UK, and we would like to consider it a new launch pad from which much more extensive collaborations between the two universities will take off.
May I also use this opportunity to express (on behalf of my Ambassador) our heart-felt appreciation and respect to The Rt. Hon. First Minister Carwyn Jones, for his efforts and dedication to develop strong relations between Wales and China, and for his encouragement in promoting better understanding of China in Wales. We are particularly grateful to you for the hospitality and support you gave to Chinese Olympic athletes and Paralympic athletes during their stay and training in Wales.
In April this year, our two governments officially launched the new High Level People to People Dialogue, committing to further strengthening and elevating collaborations in education, science and technology, culture, media, sports and youth affairs between our two countries. The establishment of the Confucius Institute of Bangor University is particularly important in the light of the new exchange mechanism. It will not only help deepen the connections between Bangor University and Chinese academic institutions, but it will also significantly enrich the value of Confucius Institute.
With the continuing growth of enthusiasm and interests in Chinese language and culture studies in the UK, Confucius institutes and Confucius classrooms have become important platforms for China-UK People to People Exchange. It is very gratifying to note that Chinese language teaching in the UK has achieved remarkable progress, there have been rapid increase in the number of Chinese learners and vibrant language and cultural exchange activities. Chinese arts and crafts and performances are warmly embraced today in the Edinburg International Festival, at the Royal Albert Hall, Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, and the London Trafalgar Square.
To date, 20 Confucius institutes and 66 Confucius classrooms have been operational in the UK and there are more than 20 UK universities in close discussion with Hanban with intent to host new Confucius institutes and classrooms. Each of them has its distinctive features, but they have one thing in common, they are all contributing to the advancement mutual understanding and friendship between China and the UK.
I sincerely hope that Bangor University and China University of Political Science and Law will work closely together in this noble joint undertaking. I wish the Confucius Institute of Bangor University a great success.
Thank you!
