On the morning of 22 August, a six-member delegation headed by Mr.Liu Liming, China’s Vice Minister of Education, visited theConfucius Institute at the University of Ljubljana (CI Ljubljana),which is jointly run by SUIBE and the University of Ljubljana inSlovenia. Mr. Liu was, during his trip, accompanied by Mr. WuChunlai, chief of the Political Section at the Chinese Embassy inSlovenia, and leaders from the Higher Education Directorate as wellas the International Relations and European Affairs Office ofSlovenia’s Ministry of Education, Science and Sport. Mr. Liu waswelcomed and received by Professor Metka Tekavčič, Dean of theEconomics Faculty of the University of Ljubljana, Ms. DanijelaVoljč, Slovenian Director of CI Ljubljana, and Mr. Xie Duquan,Chinese Director of CI Ljubljana.
At the welcoming ceremony, Professor Tekavčič and Ms. Voljč gavewelcoming remarks respectively, and Mr. Xie gave a brief account ofthe work done by CI Ljubljana. The Chinese delegation also watcheda promotional video of CI Ljubljana.
In his speech, Mr. Liu spoke highly of the business-oriented CILjubljana, saying that it was the best example of the cooperationbetween SUIBE and the University of Ljubljana. He congratulated CILjubljana on its remarkable achievements, expressing his delight inseeing that the Chinese-language classes had entered into variouskinds and levels of schools and Chinese learning had beenincorporated into the national education system in Slovenia.Against the backdrop of increasingly closer ties between the twocountries in economic, social, cultural and educationalcooperation, Mr. Liu reaffirmed the commitment of the ChineseMinistry of Education to support educational exchanges betweenChina and Slovenia and to promote the teaching of the Chineselanguage and culture in Slovenia. He concluded his speech with wellwishes, saying that China would send more Chinese students to studyand more Chinese teachers to teach Chinese in Slovenia.
At the end of welcoming ceremony, the two sides exchanged gifts andposed for a group photograph.
Mr. Liu and his party, accompanied by the co-directors of CILjubljana, also visited a photo exhibition showcasing the recentmajor events hosted by CI Ljubljana over the past year, andinspected the classrooms and offices of CI Ljubljana. Theco-directors of CI Ljubljana answered questions posed by theChinese delegates.
The Chinese delegation led by Mr. Liu was favorably impressed bythe visit, lauding the care, the characteristics and theaccomplishments of CI Ljubljana.