Deputy Director General of Hanban Wang Yongli visits two Confucius Institutes in Egypt

From June 26 to 27, 2014, Deputy Chief Executive of Confucius Institute Headquarters and Deputy Director General of Hanban Wang Yongli visited two Confucius Institutes in Egypt.

On 26, Wang Yongli arrived at the Confucius Institute at Suze Canal University (CISCU) in Ismailia, Egypt to visit its teaching buildings and culture experience center and hold talks with its faculty and volunteers. He fully recognized the CISCU’s achievements in the establishment of the Research Center for Arabian and Chinese Cultures and the Administration Center for Confucius Institutes in the Middle East, the promotion of the “Core Teacher Position” program and the training of local Chinese language teachers.

Wang Yongli visiting the CISCU

Wang Yongli visiting the construction site of CISCU’s new building

Wang also had a meeting with the President of Suze Canal University Mr. Mohamed, where they reviewed the past seven years’ concerted efforts to open and run the CISCU and then discussed the construction schedule of the new building for the CISCU as well as the cooperative programs between the CISCU and several Chinese universities. Later, Wang went to the construction site of the CISCU’s new building and enquired about the current conditions with the engineering designers and construction workers.

On 27, in company with Counselor of Education of the Chinese Embassy in Egypt Huo Wenjie and Egyptian Director of the Confucius Institute at Cairo University (CICU) Rehab, Wang paid a visit to the campus and the Hall of Cairo University. He then went to the CICU to visit the exhibition of accomplishments of the CICU’s activities and contests and to have talks with the teachers and volunteers from the CICU. Having asked about their teaching and living conditions, Wang thanked all the teachers for their great contributions to promoting Chinese language teaching in Egypt and cultural exchanges between the two countries. He suggested that Cairo University offer Arabic language courses to these Chinese teachers, and encouraged the teachers to learn Arabic, to improve their teaching levels and to become high-level professionals.

Wang Yongli meeting with the Advisor to the President of Cairo University

Wang Yongli holding cordial talks with Chinese language teachers and volunteers

Wang also met with the Advisor to the President of Cairo University Professor Zein Elabedeen, who extended warm welcome to Wang. They exchanged ideas and reached a consensus on issues such as the establishment of a training base for Chinese language teachers in Africa, the convocation of the Joint Conference of Confucius Institutes in Africa, the development of the CICU and the selection of core teachers.

Written by He Qiumin and Yu Ying

Photographed by Lu Yang