During the 2021 Forum of European Languages and Cultures – held at Beijing Foreign Studies University on July 10, Zhao Gang (L), vice president and a member of the Standing Committee of the CPC BFSU Committee, presents a certificate of appointment to Chen Yuming, vice president of the China Public Diplomacy Association and former Chinese ambassador to Lithuania, Australia and Sweden, as a visiting professor at the university.

The 2021 BFSU Forum of European Languages and Cultures was held at Beijing Foreign Studies University (BFSU) on July 10.

In his speech at the opening ceremony, Zhao Gang, vice president and member of the Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China’s Committee of BFSU, extended a warm welcome to the participants. He said that the forum has received an enthusiastic response and popular support from the circle of non-major European languages in the country, and has further bolstered the literary influence of the Chinese Journal of European Languages and Cultures since it was launched by the School of European Languages and Cultures of BFSU in 2018.

Zhao continued to state that it is of great significance to further carry out research on humanistic thought, social culture, religious history and the traditional customs of European countries, with the aim of helping domestic scholars learn more about European countries and introducing more precise proposals to better align with China's diplomacy and promote social and economic growth.

Zhao urged the School of European Languages and Cultures to play a larger role in this field. He also presented a certificate of appointment to Chen Yuming, vice-president of the China Public Diplomacy Association and former Chinese ambassador to Lithuania, Australia and Sweden, as a visiting professor at BFSU.

Speaking during the forum, Chen drew upon personal experience for an example to explain the relations between languages and diplomacy. Shi Qin'e, a professor at the Institute of Foreign Languages in the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), talked about the history of the literature of Scandinavian countries in China, and gave her perspective on the translation and research of Scandinavian literature in China.

Wang Jun, a professor of Italian at BFSU, incorporated historical background into his interpretation of Divine Comedy, an epic poem and the greatest work of Dante Alighieri (1265-1321), the most important Italian writer, poet and philosopher in history. Ding Chao, a professor of Romanian at the university, talked about new requirements for the academic building and personnel training of non-major European languages in the new era.

Four parallel sessions, themed on the teaching and policy research of European languages, the research of European literature, the research of social and cultural affairs in European countries, and the research of exchanges between China and Europe, were held on the sidelines of the forum.

Attendees at the sideline sessions held discussions on a wide range of topics, in relation to their academic studies.

During her speech, Ke Jing, dean of the BFSU School of European Languages and Cultures, summed up the features of the forum, such as its wide coverage, equal emphasis on practical and academic aspects, and its engagement in cross-discipline research.

She called for greater efforts to be made to deepen the integrated development between different disciplines, strengthen the building of its flagship journal ‘The Chinese Journal of European Languages and Cultures’, strive for innovation in teaching patterns and content, to harness linguistic competence to make Chinese stories better known, and to nurture more talented personnel in foreign languages in line with the latest social developments.

Other people who attended the forum, both online and offline, included teachers and students from over 10 universities and research institutes from home and abroad.

A group photo of attendees at the 2021 Forum of European Languages and Cultures at BFSU