The Annual Conference of Confucius Institute Hosting Universities Alliance in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (hereinafter referred to as the Alliance) and the High-End Forum on International Chinese Education Quality Improvement and Confucius Institute Brand Building (hereinafter referred to as the Forum), organized by Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, was held online on December 23^rd, 2022. 1 attendees, including Zhao Lingshan, Vice Chairman and Secretary-General of the Chinese International Education Foundation (hereinafter referred to as the CIEF), Li Hongyu, Director of Policy and Development Department and Project Funding Department of CIEF, Zhu Chaohua, First Class Inspector of the Department of Education of Guangdong Province, Li Jinjun, Director of Exchange and Cooperation Office of the Department of Education of Guangdong Province, Dai Shu, Vice President of Lingnan Normal University, Zheng Zhijun, Head of the Office of International Exchange and Cooperation of Lingnan Normal University, and representatives of other Alliance members participated in the Conference and Forum. Other Chinese council members of the Confucius Institute co-hosted by Lingnan Normal University presented online as observers.

Zhu Chaohua, First Class Inspector of the Department of Education of Guangdong Province, said that since its establishment, the Alliance has improved its working mechanism, carried out a variety of explorations, created a series of brands, and achieved good results. Zhu stressed the construction of Confucius Institutes and the development of international Chinese language education, as the important supports for the spread of Chinese civilization, were of great significance for Chinese culture to go global. Zhu pointed out there were three tasks ahead for the Alliance. First of all, the Alliance shall serve as a link between the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and countries along the Belt and Road Initiative. Second, the Alliance shall integrate the superior resources of the Alliance universities, and explore a new path of international Chinese language education in conjunction with the characteristics of the post-pandemic era. Third, the Alliance shall refine the discipline characteristics of the Alliance universities for connotative and high-quality development of Confucius Institutes.

Zhao Lingshan, Vice Chairman and Secretary-General of the CIEF pointed out that, the Alliance should develop in combination with the regional development strategy in the future to create an exemplary regional alliance cooperation model for the pioneered development of the Alliance. All member universities shall cooperate sincerely with each other, sort out and integrate their respective disciplinary resources and location advantages, strengthen exchanges and cooperation in personnel selection, teacher construction and training database construction, and create brand activities. Importance to theoretical research shall be attached, the research foundation shall be consolidated, and scientific research cooperation and project application in the field of international communication of Chinese culture shall be carried out. Member  universities shall take the lead in going global to enlarge the circle of friends of the Alliance. In addition to strengthened cooperation with other domestic Confucius Institute Alliances. The Alliance shall also try to cooperate with vocational colleges, and tourism and sports authorities, so as to enable the Alliance Confucius Institutes (Classrooms) to be more open, collaborative and innovative, and to create an alliance ecosystem featuring interconnection and win-win sharing.

The Forum also announced the winners of the First Chinese Cultural Knowledge Contest of the Alliance. As the first unified brand activity of the Alliance, the Contest attracted more than 800 Chinese and foreign contestants from 9 member unviersities of the Alliance and 24 Confucius Institutes (Classrooms), and finally 9 contestants won the first prize. Lingnan Normal University won the Outstanding Organization Award in the Contest.

During the keynote speech of the Forum, Dai Shu, Vice President of Lingnan Normal University shared the experience and practice of the Confucius Institute co-hosted by the university. Dai pointed out that the Confucius Institute of Belarusian State University of Physical Culture gave full play to the advantages of Chinese and Belarusian universities in the field of sports, fully took advatages of the local cultural resources such as martial arts and dancing lion in Zhanjiang, and took multiple measures to build a characteristic brand of Confucius Institute through activities, competitions and scientific research cooperation, and its influence in the local area was increasing year by year. In the future, the Confucius Institute of Belarusian State University of Physical Culture, which is committed to a “Confucius Institute for Sports and Tourism”, will promote the development of the Confucius Institute through traditional Chinese sports culture projects, provide Chinese training services in the field of tourism for China and Belarus, and promote the spread of Chinese in the field of Sino-Belarus tourism.

Speech of Dai Shu, Vice President of Lingnan Normal University

Lingnan Normal University will continue to give full play to its advantages and promote the development of Confucius Institutes in virtue of the Alliance platform resources in 2023.