From July 1 to 8, Lu Chunlong, Vice President of China University of Political Science and Law (CUPL), led a delegation to Finland and Hungary. The delegation attended the 2024 Joint Conference of Confucius Institutes and Independent Confucius Classrooms in Central and Eastern Europe held at Eötvös Loránd University in Hungary. The visit aimed to consolidate and expand cooperation with top higher education institutions in Northern and Central Eastern Europe and to strengthen experience sharing with Confucius Institutes in the Central and Eastern European region, further promoting the innovative development of Confucius Institutes at our university.
(CUPL Delegation Visiting the Embassy of the People's Republic of China in Finland)
On the morning of July 2, Lu Chunlong and his delegation visited the Embassy of the People's Republic of China in Finland. Education Counselor Li Baorong, on behalf of the Chinese Ambassador to Finland, Wang Tongqing, extended a warm welcome and sincere greetings to the delegation. He provided a detailed introduction to Finland's national conditions, cultural characteristics, and higher education system. He expressed his hope that CUPL would strengthen exchanges and cooperation with Finnish universities and wished the delegation a successful visit. Lu Chunlong highlighted CUPL's basic situation, history, and current collaboration status with Finnish universities. He emphasized that the university’s high value placed on cooperation with top European universities and noted that this visit, being the first delegation to visit Northern Europe since the pandemic, aims to enhance exchanges and deepen cooperation. He thanked the embassy for supporting the university's collaborative efforts.
On the afternoon of July 2, the delegation visited the Faculty of Law at the University of Helsinki, where they had in-depth discussions with Vice Dean and Senior Professor Juha Raitio, Vice Dean Professor Anette Alen, and Head of International Affairs Jenni Makela. Lu Chunlong first thanked the Faculty of Law for hosting the delegation during the school holidays. He briefly reviewed the history of cooperation between CUPL and the University of Helsinki and expressed hope that this visit would further deepen understanding and collaboration. Juha Raitio welcomed the delegation, affirmed the achievements of the long-term cooperation between both universities, and expressed the hope to renew the cooperation agreements. The two sides then had in-depth discussions on various aspects of collaboration, including student exchange programs, summer programs, faculty teaching programs, joint doctoral training, and Erasmus+ projects, and reached a consensus on promoting the signing of relevant agreements shortly.
(CUPL Delegation visiting the Faculty of Law at the University of Helsinki)
From July 4 to 5, the 2024 Joint Conference of Confucius Institutes and Independent Confucius Classrooms in Central and Eastern Europe was held at Eötvös Loránd University in Hungary. The Chinese International Education Foundation hosted the conference, co-organized by Eötvös Loránd University and its Confucius Institute. More than 100 participants, including Chinese and foreign directors of Confucius Institutes and Independent Confucius Classrooms from 34 institutions in 19 countries, and representatives of partner institutions attended the opening ceremony. The joint conference, themed "20 Years, Confucius Institutes in Their Prime. Working Together for Win-Win Cooperation and High-Quality Development of Confucius Institutes in Central and Eastern Europe," featured in-depth discussions on four topics: "Characteristics and Innovative Development," "Collaboration and Sharing," "Role of Confucius Institutes," and "Celebrating the 20th Anniversary of Confucius Institutes." Lu Chunlong delivered a keynote speech titled "Leveraging Unique Advantages for Innovative Development of Confucius Institutes," detailing the distinctive features of CUPL's overseas Confucius Institutes and the university's support measures for their innovative development.
During the conference, Lu Chunlong also had in-depth exchanges with Hamar Imre, Vice President of Eötvös Loránd University, and Zhang Junli, Deputy Secretary-General of the Chinese International Education Foundation. He also held working meetings with Luminita Balan, the foreign Co-Director, and Su Yu, the Chinese Co-Director of the Confucius Institute at the University of Bucharest, a Confucius Institute co-founded by CUPL. The directors provided detailed reports on the recent work and plans of the Confucius Institute. Lu Chunlong commended their outstanding work and offered suggestions and hopes for further improving the Confucius Institute and achieving innovative development in the new context.
(Lu Chunlong had talks with the Chinese and foreign
Co-Directors of the Confucius Institute at the University of Bucharest)
During their stay in Hungary, the delegation also visited the Faculty of Law at Eötvös Loránd University. They held in-depth discussions and academic exchanges with Professor Krisztina Rozsnyai, Vice Dean (Administrative Law), Professor Gábor Kajtár, Vice Dean (International Law), Professor Miklos Kiraly, Director of the Institute of International Private and European Economic Law, Dr. János Fazekas, Executive Secretary in charge of graduate training, and Mr. Ákos Udovecz, Coordinator of the International Exchange Office.
Eötvös Loránd University, a prestigious university in Hungary with a long-standing good cooperative relationship with CUPL, has cultivated several Nobel laureates. Its Faculty of Law, one of the oldest faculties established in 1667, warmly received the delegation. Lu Chunlong first expressed gratitude for the warm reception and hoped to expand cooperation fields further and strengthen academic exchanges based on existing cooperation. Subsequently, both sides introduced their respective disciplinary structures, faculty strengths, and student training programs, proposed a series of new cooperation suggestions, and reached a consensus. During the academic exchange session, the delegation members shared their insights on their respective educational and management fields, enhancing mutual understanding and trust and laying a solid foundation for further deepening cooperation between the two universities.
Accompanying the CUPL delegation was Wang Xinzhu, Deputy Dean of the International Confucian Academy; Zhu Lijiang, Deputy Dean of the School of International Law; Li Song, Deputy Dean of the Graduate School, and Li Dandan, Director of the Office of Confucius Institutes.
