On November 22, at 3:00 p.m. (Romania local time), the unveiling ceremony and the celebration for the Confucius Institute co-established by Bucharest University and CUPL was held in Bucharest, Romania. President Huang Jin led our university's delegation to attend the ceremony and celebration.
Over one hundred people attended the ceremony, including Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta; Chinese Ambassador to Romania Huo Yuzhen; Romania's Education Minister Remus Pricopie; Rector of the Bucharest University Mircea Dumitru; Chinese Co-Director of the Institute Xue Xiaojian; Foreign Co-Director of the Institute Luminita Bailan; and representatives of overseas Chinese compatriot leaders, Romanian Chinese and local Chinese businessmen. Xu Lin, Director-General of Hanban and Chief Executive of Confucius Institute Headquarters sent a congratulatory letter to the Institute.
Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta, Chinese Ambassador to Romania Huo Yuzhen, Rector of the Bucharest University Mircea Dumitru and CUPL President Huang Jin cut the ribbon together and respectively delivered speeches at the ceremony.
In his speech, Prime Minister Victor Ponta pointed out that the successful unveiling ceremony of the Institute was an important event in the history of China-Romania exchanges. The ceremony was of great significance, especially given the timing; it took place on the eve of Prime Minister Li Keqiang’s upcoming visit to Romania and his subsequent attendance of the annual summit with leaders of Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries as well as the Third Economic and Trade Forum between China and its CEE counterparts. He expressed his hope that, by making use of that platform, both China and Romania would deepen exchanges, strengthen cooperation, and contribute to the future common development of the two countries.
Chinese Ambassador Huo Yuzhen indicated that language was not only a tool for communication between people, but also a bridge that can form a link between countries. Currently, there is a “Mandarin fever” emerging in countries all around the world, and Romania is one of them. China has been willing to conduct cultural exchanges with other countries. The cultural and educational exchanges between China and Romania would have been utterly impossible without the following three factors: the existence of a profound friendship between the two peoples, the support and help offered by many Romanian friends, and the support, care and guidance given by the leaders of the two countries. She hoped that through cultural exchanges the two sides could further enhance their mutual understanding of each other.
Rector Mircea Dumitru emphasized in his speech that by taking full advantage of platforms such as the Institute, the two universities can share experiences, expand areas of cooperation, and advance their cooperation to a new level. By exploring all these opportunities, Bucharest University and CUPL can achieve the common goal of popularizing each others' traditional culture on their mutual campuses.
President Huang Jin’s speech started with an historical account of Bucharest’s creation. In his speech, he mentioned that the successful opening of the Institute was a good start for the cooperation between the two universities. However, it was merely the first step in a long journey. He hoped the Institute would persistently strive to deepen academic cooperation, promote the exchange of teachers and students between the two universities in all aspects of its work as they move forward. The Institute can also achieve goals in the area of enhancing cultural and educational exchanges between the two countries. President Huang remarked that the two universities have the strength, capacity and faith to make the Institute all the better in the days to come.
Before the ceremony, Prime Minister Victor Ponta, Ambassador Huo Yuzhen and the other distinguished guests visited the Institute's teaching and administrative offices, Chinese Cultural Exhibition, and the cultural experience facilities given by Hanban as a gift. The Prime Minister and the Ambassador jointly wrote an inscription for the Institute. After the ceremony, Prime Minister Ponta, Ambassador Huo Yuzhen and Rector Dumitru took a group photo with CUPL delegation members.
After the ceremony, a celebration performance was staged by the Confucius Institute at Bucharest University. Bian Zhengdong, Consul of the Education Section of the Chinese Embassy in Romania, attended the event and delivered an impromptu speech.
That evening the CUPL delegation also visited the Chinese Embassy in Romania and held talks with Ambassador Huo Yuzhen. President Huang extended his sincere gratitude to the Embassy for its help and support in the process of establishing the Institute. He hoped the Embassy would continue supporting and guiding its future development. Ambassador Huo Yuzhen expressed her congratulations to the opening of the Institute and placed her great hope in its future growth.
The main stream Romanian media and Xinhuanet (China) conducted follow-up reporting on the ceremony and its related events.
