On November 12, a delegation of external council members of the Confucius Institute at the University of the Punjab, Pakistan, visited our university. The 2025 Annual Council Meeting of the Confucius Institute was held at Lianxi Building on Sanjiang Campus. Xiong Zhihua, Member of the University Party Standing Committee and Vice President, met with the Pakistani delegation. Attendees included Zhou Junfeng, Director of the Planning and Finance Office; Sobia Khurram, Pakistani Director of the Confucius Institute; Ahmad Islam, Academic Registrar; Tasneem Kamran, Finance Director; as well as staff from international exchange and cooperation departments of both universities. The meeting was chaired by Cai Jinbao, Director of the International Exchange and Cooperation Center and Chinese Director of the Confucius Institute.
In his opening address, Xiong Zhihua extended a warm welcome to the Pakistani delegation and introduced our university’s development history, distinctive educational features, and achievements in internationalization. He emphasized that the steady progress and phased accomplishments of the Confucius Institute have been made possible by the long-term support of the University of the Punjab and the joint efforts of council members from both sides. He expressed hope that this council meeting would serve as a new starting point for further consensus-building, deepened collaboration, continuous optimization of the Institute’s operational mechanisms, and enhancement of teaching quality and cultural influence, thereby better serving the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.
Ahmad Islam, Academic Registrar of the University of the Punjab, expressed gratitude for the warm reception and introduced his university’s history and comprehensive strengths. He stated that the Pakistani side is willing to work hand in hand with Jiangxi University of Science and Technology to promote higher-quality and more sustainable development of the Confucius Institute, actively integrate into educational cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative, and cultivate more high-caliber talent with understanding and friendship toward China, contributing to the building of a community with a shared future for mankind.
During the meeting, the Chinese and Pakistani Directors, Cai Jinbao and Sobia Khurram, delivered systematic reports on the Confucius Institute’s work and financial operations for the 2024–2025 academic year. All council members reviewed and approved the reports, signing off on the review comments.
In the discussion session, both sides engaged in in-depth exchanges on key topics such as security measures and future development strategies for the Confucius Institute, reaching multiple consensus points. After the meeting, representatives from the two universities exchanged commemorative gifts and took group photos.
It is noted that council members also traveled to Beijing on November 13 to participate in the 2025 World Chinese Conference. There, they joined Confucius Institute colleagues from around the globe in discussing hot topics such as the localization of Chinese language education in the digital-intelligent era, the construction of blended online-offline learning ecosystems, and the development of Chinese education standards—contributing wisdom and strength to the high-quality development of Chinese language education and the promotion of mutual learning among civilizations.
