Confucius Institute of Kazan University Celebrated Tenth Anniversary
The big date was marked with a visit by Ambassador of PRC Li Hui and a delegation of Hunan Normal University.
In the afternoon Ambassador Li Hui and his colleagues came to the Institute of International Relations, History and Oriental Studies to open the Sinology Research and Education Center, after which they moved to the Main Building to meet with the University management.
Rector Ilshat Gafurov met the guests and presented the University. He touched on the importance of international research cooperation and noted, “People’s Republic of China is a strategic partner for Kazan Federal University. We are proud of our cooperation with the universities and scientific institutions of China. One of the oldest partners is Hunan Normal University – the cooperation agreement was signed in 1990; besides, an important development is education for Chinese students – there are about 600 at KFU right now, and even more students and academics participate in exchange programs each year”.
The conversation then moved to the main point on the agenda – Confucius Institute. As the Rector said, thanks to its work over 1,000 people are currently studying Chinese language, and this number is growing. There are plans to greatly increase the potential audience by introducing an online course.
Ambassador Li asked if there are such courses in other languages. Dr. Gafurov spoke about a successful initiative – Ana Tele, a distance learning program in Tatar language; it is aimed at beginners, including speakers of other languages than Russian. The Chinese side offered to adapt the course for Chinese learners, and KFU and HNU can then launch parallel online programs of Russian and Chinese languages. They can also initiate additional modules in history and culture for students of all ages. Further down the road school and university contests can be organized.
The main celebratory event at the Emperor's Hall started after the talks. During the gathering KFU and Hanban signed a prolongation of the cooperation agreement concerning the Confucius Institute’s operations. The importance of this document was emphasized by all the speakers. In particular, Ambassador Li said, “There are 22 acting Confucius Institutes in Russia and 22 centers of Russian language in China. I think that such a synchronicity is symbolic – it shows equal intention of our peoples to become closer and interest in each other's culture, language, and history”.
The other speakers were Vice-Rector of HNU Kuang Leman and Deputy of the State Council of Tatarstan Razil Valeev. Afterwards several honorary certificates were handed out by the Chinese side to KFU employees who contributed the most to the impressive success of the local Confucius Institute.
The delegation was able to witness proof that the Institute has long become more than a language and culture center. It is a focal point of inter-university and intergovernmental cooperation (including joint industrial projects such as KFU - Haier).
Saturday, April 21st, saw the continuation of the talks. Vice-Rectors Dmitry Tayursky, Linar Latypov, and Kuang Leman exchanged greetings, and academics from both sides then presented their most interesting achievements – three from each. Everyone thereupon proceeded to a tour around the University facilities.
