From November 14 to 16, the 2025 World Chinese Language Conference, themed “Innovation-Driven, Digital Empowerment—Bringing Chinese Within Reach,” convened at the Beijing National Convention Center. Hosted by the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China, the conference was co-organized by the Center for Language Exchange and Cooperation (CLEC), the China International Foundation for Chinese Language Education, and the World Association of Chinese Language Teaching. Ding Xuexiang, Member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and Vice Premier of the State Council, attended the opening ceremony and delivered a keynote speech. In his speech, he proposed four recommendations: First, uphold innovation-driven development to align with educational trends in the digital and intelligent era; second, prioritize service-oriented development to advance the integrated growth of international Chinese language education with vocational and specialized education; third, foster friendly exchanges by encouraging Chinese and international primary/secondary schools to form language partner schools and effectively organize the “Chinese Bridge” series of Chinese language competitions; Fourth, uphold openness and inclusiveness to jointly implement the Global Civilization Initiative. Zhao Jianguo, Deputy Party Secretary and President of our university; Pan Dechang, Member of the Standing Committee of the Party Committee and Vice President; presidents of partner universities of co-founded Confucius Institutes; Chinese and foreign deans of these institutes; and relevant personnel from the College of International Education attended the conference.
On the morning of November 15, a signing ceremony for Chinese language education agreements and an accreditation event were held. Zhao Jianguo, together with Yu Yunfeng, Director of Center for Language Exchange and Cooperation, and Prudence Balarunyeretse, President of the University of Burundi, jointly signed the Memorandum of Understanding on the Joint Undergraduate Program in Chinese Language and Culture. This initiative represents another breakthrough in our university's Sino-Burundian Chinese language education collaboration. Through measures including the International Chinese Language Teacher Scholarship, local teacher training, academic lectures, and teaching seminars, it aims to cultivate versatile talents proficient in both applied Chinese language skills and cross-cultural communication competencies, thereby injecting new vitality into Sino-Burundian people-to-people exchanges.
On the evening of November 15, Pan Dechang attended the Liaoning Province Confucius Institute Partner Universities Alliance Work Conference and Liaoning Province International Chinese Education Coordination and Exchange Meeting. He discussed with attendees about the evaluation of the primary role played by Chinese partner institutions of Confucius Institutes.
During the conference, Zhao Jianguo and Pan Dechang also engaged in multilateral exchanges: meeting with delegations from the Confucius Institute at the University of Burundi and the Confucius Institute at the University of Bangui in the Republic of Central Africa, both jointly established by our university. The delegation also participated in multiple parallel forums.
Concurrently, our university actively participated in the World Chinese Language Conference Theme Exhibition and the Third China Education International Exchange Exhibition, showcasing our achievements in international exchange and cooperation, international student recruitment and training, and Confucius Institute development. The exhibition area featured highly interactive beginner, intermediate, and advanced Chinese check-in tasks. With designs combining fun and practicality, these activities attracted numerous Chinese and international guests to stop and participate, vividly demonstrating the charm of learning Chinese and our university's teaching characteristics.
This participation in the 2025 World Chinese Language Conference serves as a comprehensive showcase of our university's international Chinese language education initiatives, while also presenting a significant opportunity to expand our global cooperation network and elevate the internationalization of our academic programs. In the future, Bohai University will continue to deepen the development of its “Chinese Plus” collaborative ecosystem, applied Chinese language talent cultivation, and intelligent Chinese language assessment. We will enrich the substance of international Chinese language education cooperation and fully promote the high-quality and leapfrog development of Confucius Institutes. The university will persist in using the Chinese language as a bridge to serve the Belt and Road Initiative, contributing more robust strength of Bohai University to cultural exchanges between China and foreign countries and building a community with a shared future for mankind!
