In the evening of December 12, the Confucius Institute at the University of the West Indies at Cave Hill, Barbados (UWI Cave Hill) held its ninth board meeting. The meeting, which marked the collaboration between China University of Political Science and Law (CUPL) and the University of the West Indies, was held in a mixed format both online and offline. Among the attendees were Clive Landis, Principal of UWI Cave Hill, Winston Moore, Deputy Principal of UWI Cave Hill, Ma Huaide, President of CUPL, and Lu Chunlong, Vice President of CUPL, with Lu Chunlong presiding over the meeting.
Clive Landis emphasized the longstanding mutual respect, pursuit of excellence, and strong partnership between CUPL and UWI Cave Hill. He highlighted the pivotal role played by the Confucius Institute (CI) in fostering cultural exchanges between China and the Caribbean. He also noted the visit of Honorable Mia Amor Mottley, Prime Minister of Barbados, to CUPL in June 2023, which paved the way for expanded mutual visits and deeper cooperation between the two universities, particularly in areas such as maritime law and climate research.
Ma Huaidai congratulated UWI Cave Hill on its 60th anniversary and commended fruitful cooperation between the two universities over the past eight years through the CI. He mentioned the achievements in Chinese language teaching, cultural activities, faculty and student exchanges, moot court competitions, and international programs. The renewal of the Memorandum of Understanding between CUPL and UWI Cave Hill symbolizes a closer relationship and broader cooperation, with the expectation of achieving more mutual benefits through the CI platform.
Subsequently, the Board welcomed new members and received reports on annual work, budget, planning for the next year, and pending matters from David Bulbulia, Barbadian Co-Director of the CI, and Nie Lu, Chinese Co-Director. The reports were reviewed, approved, and followed by a comprehensive discussion on future cooperation.
CUPL President Ma Huaide and Principal of UWI Cave Hill Clive Landis, as representatives of the two parties, renewed the MOU between the two universities.
In the concluding remarks, Ma Huaide expressed optimism for the renewal of the cooperation agreement as a catalyst for deeper collaboration in various domains, leading to enhanced language, cultural, and academic exchanges between the two countries. Clive Landis echoed these remarks, expressing eagerness to further deepen cooperation with CUPL and achieve more fruitful outcomes in faculty-student exchanges and academic collaboration.
Other attendees at the meeting included Ochieng Odhiambo, Dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Education, UWI Cave Hill, Li Juqian, Director of the Office of International Cooperation and Exchange, CUPL, Yu Fei, Dean of the Civil, Commercial, and Economic Law School, along with Former Chinese Co-Director of the CI, Barbados Li Renyan, Deputy Director of the Confucius Institute Qu Xin, and Program Manager of the Confucius Institute Pan Ren.
