A ceremony to mark the first anniversary of the Confucius Instituteestablished at the University of Zagreb in partnership with SIFTwas held on 13 May 2013 at the Assembly Hall of the Rectorate’sOffice of the University of Zagreb, Croatia. Professor AleksaBjeliš, Rector of the University of Zagreb, Mr. Shen Zhifei,Chinese Ambassador to Croatia, Mr. Zhao Qiaoliang, EducationCounselor of the Chinese Embassy, Ms Jelena Pavičić Vukičević, ViceMayor of Zagreb, Professor Bojan Baletić, Vice Rector of theUniversity of Zagreb attended the ceremony, together with deans,faculty and students as well as personages of all circles.
In his speech, Rector Bjeliš congratulated on the first anniversaryof the founding of the Confucius Institute at the University ofZagreb. He pointed out that the establishment of the ConfuciusInstitute was a landmark in the development of the University ofZagreb and paved the way for further cooperation between Croatiaand China, especially in the field of higher education.
Mr. Krešimir Jurak, Director of the Croatian Side of the ConfuciusInstitute at the University of Zagreb, reviewed what the Institutehad done over the past year and expressed his gratitude for all thesupport and help the Institute had received.
On behalf of the Chinese Embassy, Ambassador Shen congratulated onthe first anniversary of the opening of the Confucius Institute atthe University of Zagreb, spoke highly of the efforts of theInstitute to promote Chinese language and culture, and express hisbest wishes to the Institute for the years to come.
To mark the occasion, the Chinese Culture Week is major event ofthe Confucius Institute at the University of Zagreb this year. Theweek-long celebrations include numerous activities such as aChinese calligraphy and painting exhibition, Chinese shadow boxing( taiji quan ) performance, Chinese martial arts (Kungfu) show, Chinese teaceremony, paper cutting show, learning to cook traditional Chinesefoods, lectures on the Chinese culture, and the first Sino-CroatiaHigh-level Business Seminar. The Chinese Culture Week provides awindow into China and helps to promote friendship between thepeoples of China and Croatia.