The 8th Council Meeting of the Confucius Institute at Zayed University (ZU) was held on Oct 11. 

Lilian Li, director of the Library and Learning Commons at ZU, Habibul Haque Khondker, a professor from the College of Humanities and Social Sciences of the university, Xue Qingguo, director of the Zayed Center for Arabic Language and Islamic Studies at Beijing Foreign Studies University (BFSU), Jin Limin, director of the Office of Confucius Institutes at BFSU, Du Wei and Noura Salem Alkaabi, directors of the Confucius Institute, and other representatives attended the online meeting. 

Representatives from BFSU attend the 8th Council Meeting of the Confucius Institute at ZU on Oct 11.

Clayton MacKenzie, provost and chief education officer of ZU, said the vigorous development of Confucius Institutes has made contributions to cultural exchanges. He also expressed his gratitude for setting up a Confucius Institute at ZU, and wished to carry out long-term cooperation with BFSU in the future. 

Jia Wenjian, deputy secretary of the CPC BFSU committee and vice-president of the university, praised the achievements of the Confucius Institute at ZU in the past year, thanked both Chinese and Arab staff for their efforts, and thanked Mackenzie for his congratulations on the 80th anniversary of BFSU. 

Jia noted that BFSU’s development owes a great deal to the firm support of its partners at home and abroad. He said the university hopes to develop more substantial cooperation with ZU in years to come.

Council members of the Confucius Institute at ZU attend a virtual meeting on Oct 11.

The council members deliberated their work report and expenditures for the past year and discussed their work planning for the next year. They affirmed the achievements obtained and voiced support for the future development of the institute.

Co-founded by BFSU and ZU, the Confucius Institute at ZU opened in 2012. As the first and largest Confucius Institute in the United Arab Emirates, it is committed to teaching Chinese language and culture to students at ZU.

The institute has also provided rich cultural activities and promoted inter-school cooperation between the two universities, and has become an important platform for boosting cultural understanding and educational exchanges between the two countries.