From December 7 to 9, the 2023 World Chinese Language Conference was hosted by the Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China and jointly held by the Center for Language Education and Cooperation (CLEC), the Chinese International Education Foundation (CIEF) and the International Society for Chinese Language Teaching. Prof. Wu Gefei, Dean of the International College, was invited to attend the conference, accompanied by Sun Bingfang from the Chinese Language Teachers’ Office and Pan Meichen from the Administration and Project Office.
Under the theme of “Chinese for the World, Openness into the Future”, the Conference welcomed more than 2000 participants from over 160 countries, including leaders of relevant China and foreign education authorities, educational institutions, international language and culture agencies and international organizations, university principles, esteemed experts in Chinese language education, sinologists, diplomats, as well as industry representatives. The conference included two main events, Plenary Session and Main Forum. The conference also featured panel forums, including the Second China-GCC Language and Culture Forum, the First World Young Sinologists Forum, Professional Degree Construction and Personnel Training of International Chinese Language Education, Working Meeting of Chinese Proficiency Test Centers, and Global Chinese Plus Conference. These events focused on topics such as language education and mutual learning across civilizations, international collaboration in education “Chinese+TVET” and the digital advancement of Chinese language education. They aimed to facilitate discussions on new achievements, emerging needs, and current hot topics uniting domestic and international efforts to collectively promote the establishment of a new paradigm for high-quality international Chinese language education.
During the conference, Prof. Wu met with Wang Jinhong, President of the Chinese Plus, and Zuo Yichen, CEO of Minsheng Education Group Co.Ltd. He established contacts with many official platforms and institutions such as the Chinese Plus, and reached preliminary cooperation intentions. The team led by Prof. Wu also participated in some panel forums, parallel forums and exchanges. They visited the Innovative Development of Chinese Language Education in the International and Language Exhibition of the 2023 World Chinese Language Conference to learn about the latest new results of the international construction of Chinese language teaching resources and the digital and intelligent transformation of language education. They also carried out in-depth communications and discussions with Chinese language educators around the world. Dean Wu made a thorough introduction of the accomplishments of international students’ education at CUMT.
This participation has brought new impetus into the development of our international student education and teaching profession. CUMT will further innovate the enrollment mode, make use of more digital intelligent teaching means and insist on improving the quality of international student cultivation with advanced concepts and methods. Besides, CUMT will strengthen the collaborations with other colleges, universities, and educational organizations, elevate the global presence of our international Chinese language education, and work with colleagues from around the world to build a new model for the high-quality development of international Chinese language education.
Text by: Sun Bingfang, Pan Meichen
Translated by: Pan Meichen, Yin Yuyue
Reviewed by: Wu Gefei
