Source: Office of International Cooperation & Exchange
Written by: Office of Confucius Institutes
Proofread by: Feng Yang
Edited by: Wang Dongmei

On September 12-13, 2016, a delegation from the Confucius Institute at the Autonomous University of Yucatan (CI-UADY) visited Sun Yat-sen University (SYSU). Members of the delegation included José de Jesús Williams, President of UADY, Gerardo Montero Perez, President of the Autonomous University of Campeche (UACAM), and Miguel Angel Olivares Urbina, Head of Department of Business at the Universidad del Caribe (Unicaribe).

SYSU Vice President Li Mengfeng met with the guests, accompanied by representatives from the Office of International Cooperation & Exchange, School of Foreign Languages, and School of International Studies.
Vice President Li Mengfeng extended a warm welcome to the delegation, and introduced SYSU’s basic situation and development goals. He thanked UADY for the strong support for CI-UADY, and hoped that on the basis of the jointly built Confucius Institute, UADY and SYSU would strengthen faculty and student exchanges, and explore potentials of cooperation in language projects.

President José de Jesús Williams thanked SYSU for the warm reception. He pointed out that CI-UADY has developed rapidly and has spread Chinese language and culture to Mexican people. He thanked both Hanban and SYSU for the great support. He also introduced UADY’s academic disciplines and development, and expressed the hope to carry out deeper exchanges and cooperation with SYSU.

President Gerardo Montero Perez introduced UACAM and the development of Chinese language teaching at UACAM. Miguel Angel Olivares Urbina introduced Unicaribe and the Chinese language teaching at Unicaribe.

During the visit, the delegation held a meeting with representatives from SYSU’s School of Foreign Languages and School of International Studies to discuss possibilities of cooperation in language disciplines between UADY and SYSU.

The delegates also visited the Base for International Chinese Teaching Materials Development and Teacher Training, the National Supercomputer Center in Guangzhou, and the mosquito factory of Sun Yat-sen University-Michigan State University Joint Center of Vector Control for Tropical Disease.

In 2007, SYSU and UADY jointly established the CI-UADY. In 2014, Unicaribe and CI-UADY signed a cooperation agreement to set up a Chinese teaching spot at Unicaribe. In 2015, UACAM and CI-UADY collaborated to set up a Chinese teaching spot in the language center at UACAM. In August 2016, Chinese Vice Premier Liu Yandong inaugurated the Confucius Classroom at Unicaribe in Cancun, Mexico.