Meeting in Beijing: Full Support to the University and the Confucius Institute

A meeting between the delegation of the University of Banja Luka, representatives of Tianjin University of Technology and Education and the National Office for Promoting Chinese Language and the Confucius Institute Headquarters (HANBAN) was held on 5 December 2019 in Beijing.

The delegation of the University of Banja Luka led by the rector of the University, Professor Radoslav Gajanin, PhD, consisted of the dean of the Faculty of Medicine, Professor Ranko Skrbic, PhD, and the director of the Confucius Institute, Ljiljana Stevic. The delegation was received at the HANBAN Headquarters by Deputy Director-General of the Confucius Institute Headquarters Zhao Guocheng and Director of European Confucius Institutes Mr Yang.

Rector Gajanin thanked the HANBAN leadership for their support in the past and the official approval for the opening of the Confucius Classroom in Banja Luka Grammar School. He said that the University of Banja Luka has been recognized as a bridge of friendship between the Republic of Srpska and China through its activities, which was proved when the Hanban representatives decided to pay a visit to the University of Banja Luka in May this year.

Rector Gajanin especially thanked the rector of the University of Technology and Education Liu Xin for the University’s full support to the Confucius Institute of the University of Banja Luka, which are together planning to pursue new projects.

In addition to summarizing impressions from the earlier period, this was an opportunity to discuss plans for further cooperation.

Hence, Rector Gajanin stressed the importance of the support given by the Government of the Republic of Srpska to the activities undertaken by the University of Banja Luka and the Confucius Institute.

At the meeting, Dean Ranko Skrbic emphasized that two students of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Banja Luka are, thanks to the scholarships of the Government of the People's Republic of China, studying for their master’s degrees at the prestigious Chinese universities of Qinghua and Zhengzhou. The dean also pointed out that one of the first lectures on traditional Chinese medicine was held at the Faculty of Medicine and further informed about the activities undertaken by the Confucius Institute at Dr Miroslav Zotovic Institute for Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.

Deputy Director-General of the Confucius Institute Headquarters said that the University of Banja Luka will continue to have the support of HANBAN and the Embassy of the People's Republic of China in Bosnia and Herzegovina. He said that they expect that the University of Banja Luka will come up with a specific proposal regarding the opening of a Center for Interdisciplinary Chinese Studies so as to get the support from Hanban in due time.

He also emphasized how important it is to make a good curriculum for teaching Chinese as a foreign language, based on Hanban’s extensive experience. It would be of great help in introducing Chinese as a second foreign language in the Grammar School. Zhao Guocheng also said that Hanban is ready to support the opening of the Chinese language department at the Faculty of Philology of the University of Banja Luka.

He talked highly of the work of the Confucius Institute at the University of Banja Luka, which he considers to be an example of good cooperation between local and Chinese institutions.

The University of Banja Luka delegation is continuing visiting different institutions in China. It plans to attend the meeting of the Confucius Institute Council Board in Tianjin, as well as to visit the University of Medicine and attend the International Conference of Confucius Institutes in Changsha, Hunan Province.