The Confucius Institute of the Faculty of Humanities was established at the University of Debrecen in 2019, and it has been responsible for teaching Mandarin Chinese, promoting Chinese culture and developing academic relations ever since. Both Tianjin Foreign Studies University (TFSU), the co-founder of this Confucius Institute, and the city of Tianjin consider bilateral visits an important milestone in expanding cooperation, which is why TFSU had invited a delegation from the University of Debrecen to visit Tianjin and Beijing. The university delegation, which included local government representatives and institutional leaders, arrived in Tianjin under the leadership of General Vice Rector Károly Pető.
The opening ceremony of the "Chinese Bridge" event was held on November 4 by the Chinese Foreign Language Exchange and Cooperation Center of the Ministry of Education at Tianjin Foreign Studies University. Representing the host institution, President of TFSU Chen Fachun and Vice President Li Yingying welcomed the participants, while Liu Yiman, Deputy Secretary of the Education Working Committee of Tianjin’s Municipal Party Committee, and Károly Pető, Vice Rector for General Affairs of the University of Debrecen, also delivered addresses.
In her welcoming address, Liu Yiman emphasized that, thanks to the "Belt and Road" Initiative of Cooperation, which Hungary was the first European country to sign, Sino-Hungarian relations have been expanding during recent years, while concerts, exhibitions and publishing collaborations in each other's countries have strengthened mutual cooperation and friendship between the two peoples.
President Chen Fachun underlined that the Chinese language plays a fundamental and pioneering part in promoting mutually beneficial cooperation between these two countries in a number of various fields. The management of Tianjin Foreign Studies University hopes to expand exchanges and cooperation with its Hungarian friends in the fields of international Chinese language education, talent management and scholarly-scientific research, as a result of which a growing number of Hungarian teachers and students, academics and other professionals will be able to gather experience about China in person through the "Chinese Language Bridge."
Vice Rector Károly Pető explained that our university has contacts of cooperation with other universities in more than 120 countries and regions, as well as with a number of internationally recognized and renowned companies such as BMW and CATL.
“Hopefully, exchange programmes and cooperation with Chinese universities will be further strengthened and consolidated through this "Chinese Bridge," which is a bridge of culture, friendship and of the heart, connecting China and the world," the Vice Rector said. After the opening ceremony, the Debrecen delegation had a chance to meet Hungarian students and teachers of TFSU, following which they conducted discussions with the local management about expanding cooperation opportunities.
Led by Professor Cui Xianjun, Chinese Director of the Confucius Institute of the University of Debrecen, the Hungarian delegation also visited the headquarters of Jinfeng Company in the Chuwei building, where they were received and accompanied by Cai Min, President of Jinfeng Company. The two sides held discussions on further deepening international partnership, training of talents, scientific research and the development of cross-border strategic cooperation in a variety of fields.
At the consequent symposium, Cai Min, President of Jinfeng Stocks, introduced Jinfeng through overseas cooperation projects. He highlighted that, in recent years, under the strategic guidance of the leaders of China and Hungary, Sino-Hungarian relations have developed rapidly, mutual political trust has deepened, cooperation in implementing the Belt and Road initiative has been fruitful, and the relationship between the two countries has become a model to be followed in the international arena.
Cai Min pointed out that the University of Debrecen is the oldest institution of higher education in Hungary and has established considerable prestige and reputation in various fields of education. Following the concept of "export and import," Jinfeng has always attached great importance to cooperation with universities and colleges, as well as to the cultivation of innovative and entrepreneurial talents. Thus, the visit of the Hungarian delegation would open a new chapter in the cooperation between Jinfeng and the University of Debrecen. This could include the exploration of new ways of transnational university-enterprise cooperation, the launch of talent development programs, the arrangement of mutual visits and exchange programs, and close cooperation in the research and development of new materials, the design of measuring chips and projects connected to the international smart energy industrial chain.
Through this cooperation, international university-industry collaboration in various forms can be pursued to promote deep integration of production, education, academic activities and research. The two sides will strive to further deepen cooperation in talent development, technology research, platform building, international scientific exchanges, etc. At the same time, they will continuously improve the level of cooperation between international universities and enterprises, and work together to build a new benchmark to guide the development of the international smart energy industry.
In turn, Vice Rector Pető gave a detailed presentation on the history of the University of Debrecen, its overall strengths and professional advantages, scale of school operation, talent management concepts and international talent exchange and cooperation, while welcoming the strategic cooperation with Jinfeng. He expressed his hope that both sides would make full use of their advantages and resources in order to promote the construction of this discipline, talent training, scientific research cooperation and transformation of findings and results, and establish a strong cooperation mechanism, and invited Cai Min, Chairman of Jinfeng Stock to visit the University of Debrecen.
He expressed the hope that both sides would make full use of their advantages and resources to promote the construction of the discipline, talent training, scientific research cooperation and transformation of results as well as to establish a strong cooperation mechanism, and invited Cai Min, Chairman of Jinfeng Stock to visit the University of Debrecen.
The Hungarian delegation also paid a visit to the headquarters of Center for Language Education and Cooperation Center, where they discussed the promotion of Chinese language teaching in Hungary with Yang Jun, Deputy Director of the Center.
Károly Pető emphasized that the University of Debrecen attaches great importance to cooperation with China, and has established friendly relations with Chinese universities and companies, such as CATL. The university continues to give priority to supporting Hungarian students in Chinese language studies and hopes to further strengthen its relations with Chinese universities through the programs called "Chinese Bridge" and "International Chinese Education Scholarship."
Yang Jun noted that the cooperation between the University of Debrecen and Tianjin Foreign Studies University has been fruitful in the field of Chinese language teaching in the region, while Mandarin Chinese has been included in the foreign language program offerings and credit system of the University of Debrecen. After the meeting and the discussions, the delegation visited the nearby Chinese Cultural Experience Center.
The delegates from the University of Debrecen also visited Chengjian University in Tianjin, where President Bai Haili and Vice President Wang Zhongliang met and welcomed them. The meeting was attended by the relevant staff from the International Exchange Office (Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan Affairs Office), the International College of Education and the International College of Engineering.
Here, Vice Rector Károly Pető underlined that the two universities have a great potential for cooperation in a number of different disciplines and expressed his hope that fruitful cooperation in the fields of water management and ecosystems, engineering and engineering management could be established between the universities as soon as possible. The delegation then visited the University's International School of Engineering, the Engineering Training Centre and the Institute of International Education to gain an overview of the University's international school and its research environment.
The University of Debrecen delegation members also visited the publishing house called Tianjin Publishing and Media Group and sights such as Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, the Great Wall and other historical sites to explore the 5,000-year history of Chinese civilization. In addition, they explored Tianjin’s Ancient Cultural Street, the Five Avenues, Binhai Library and the Tianjin Yangliuqing Engraving New Year Painting Museum.
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