On 4-6 October 2013, the First Conference on “China-Central andEastern Europe (CEE) Confucius Institutes Cross-cultural Dialogue,Education and Learning” was held at the Confucius Institute at theUniversity of Ljubljana (CI Ljubljana), which operates inpartnership with the Shanghai University of International Businessand Economics (SUIBE) in the Slovenian capital Ljubljana. Thisinternational cross-disciplinary conference, jointly sponsored bySUIBE and Beijing Foreign Studies University (BFSU), is a freshattempt to enhance cultural, educational, and academiccollaboration between China and CEE countries.
Ms. Xu Lin, Director General of Confucius Institute Headquartersand Hanban-Office of Chinese Language Council International sent aletter of congratulation to the conference. Over 100 scholars,experts and dignitaries attended the opening ceremony, includingMr. Zhang Xianyi, Chinese Ambassador to Slovenia, Dr. JernejPikalo, Slovenian Minister for Education, Science and Sports,Professor Ivan Svetlik, Rector of the University of Ljubljana,Professor Nie Qing, Assistant to the President of SUIBE, ProfessorZhao Gang, Dean of BFSU School of European Languages and Culture,Ms. Danijela Voljč, Director of CI Ljubljana on the Slovenian side,and Mr. Chen Jian, Director of CI Ljubljana on the Chinese side, aswell as directors of Confucius Institutes in Europe, Africa andAustralia.
Co-organizers of this conference covering 11 academic topicsincluded Confucius Institute Vienna (Austria), Confucius InstituteBudapest (Hungary), Confucius Institute Szeged (Hungary), ConfuciusInstitute Opole (Poland), and Confucius Institute Zagreb (Croatia)in collaboration with the Chinese Embassy in Slovenia.
Professor Kerry Brown, Executive Director of the China StudiesCenter at the University of Sydney and head of the Europe-ChinaResearch and Advice Network (ECRAN) funded by the European Union(EU), delivered a keynote speech on “China and the EU: Developmentof Cooperation and Partnership in the Next Decade”.