Newly appointed Ambassador of China to Bosnia and Herzegovina visits Confucius Institute: Discussion about activities in 2019

Professor Radoslav Gajanin, Ph.D., Rector of the University of Banja Luka and the Confucius Institute team welcomed Ji Ping, newly appointed Ambassador of China to BIH, on February 18, 2019, and discussed planned activities at the Institute for this year.

Rector Gajanin informed us that they discussed ways to improve the work of the Confucius Institute of the University of Banja Luka and various activities planned for this year.

The meeting was held at the premises of Faculty of Political Science of the University of Banja Luka, which are also the location of the Confucius Institute headquarters. Following the meeting, Rector Gajanin emphasized that he is very satisfied with the activities carried out by the Confucius Institute so far.

“The Institute focuses on studying the Chinese language, offering courses fit for all ages and needs of the citizens of the Republic of Srpska. Students at the University have been offered an option to attend free Chinese language course during the course of theiracademic studies”, said Rector Gajanin.

“We also have an idea to incorporate the Chinese language as an elective subject at the Faculty of Philology of the University of Banja Luka, and later as a major, that is, as a department for the Chinese Language," said Gajanin.

According to him, people can get informedabout the tradition and culture of the Chinese people through the Confucius Institute, while professors and students from China have the opportunity to get to know the culture and traditions of the Republic of Srpska.

Ambassador Ji stated that the Confucius Institute is very active, and he also thanked the Government of the Republic of Srpska and the University of Banja Luka for their support.

He emphasized that the Institute will continue to serve as a platform for cultural exchange between the Republic of Srpska and China.

“We hope that the citizens of the Republic of Srpska will continue to be interested in learning our language and getting to know our culture”, said the Chinese Ambassador.

Cai Ying, Chinese director at the Confucius Institute expressed her gratitude towards the Chinese embassy for supporting the Institute since its foundation, and expressed hope for future collaboration.

The meeting was also attended by LjiljanaStević, home director at the Confucius Institute of the University of Banja Luka, professor ZdravkoZlokapa, Ph.D., Dean of the Faculty of Political Science, assistant professor Aleksandar Vranješ, Ph.D., Vice-Dean for scientific research at the Faculty, and assistant professor DuškoTrninić, Ph.D., Vice-Dean for teaching at the Faculty.

After the meeting, the Ambassador was introduced to the activities at the Confucius Institute and visited the library that holds more than 2,000 titles in Chinese and English language.