Professor Mircea Dumitru, the Rector of the University of Bucharest, Awarded for His Contribution in Promoting the Chinese Language

Professor Mircea Dumitru, the Rector of the University of Bucharest, was awarded the Prize for his Special contribution to teaching and promoting the Chinese language abroad. He was granted this honour within the International Conference for Teaching Chinese Language, which took place on Tuesday, 10^th of December 2019. The award was given by Mr. Chen Baosheng, the Chinese Minister of Education.

This world-level acknowledgement comes after Prof. Luminița Bălan was awarded the Prize for the best director of the Confucius Institute in 2016. Furthermore, the Confucius Institute of the University of Bucharest was awarded the Prize for the best Institute in 2017.

The International Conference for Teaching Chinese Language took place in Changsha, the capital of the Chinese province Hunan and was organized by the Chinese Minister of Education in partnership with the General Headquarters of the Confucius Institutes. This year’s topic, “Innovation and Development of International Chinese Language Education in the New Era”, was a challenge to embark on new international projects in order to strengthen the Sino-foreign cooperation.

The event gathered more than 1.000 delegates from the Confucius Institutes and Chinese language education institutes from 160 countries and regions. It celebrated 15 years of existence of the Confucius Institute and the 13^th Global Confucius Institute Conference. 

Established in 2013, in partnership with the Beijing University of Political Science and Law, the Confucius Institute of the University of Bucharest developed a network of Chinese language and culture courses, both within the university and in many other pre-university education institutions in Bucharest and some other cities, such as Galați, Iași, Craiova, Suceava and Giurgiu.

Thanks to rapid development and professional skills in making use of some of the most modern teaching methods, the Confucius Institute of the University of Bucharest was awarded the title ”The Confucius Institute of the Year 2017”. Yet, it is not the first time that the Confucius Institute of the University of Bucharest is acknowledged as one of the best in the world. Prof. Luminița Bălan, the Romanian director of the Confucius Institute was awarded the Excellency Prize for outstanding achievements in promoting Chinese language and culture in Romania. She was awarded this title in 2016, within the 11^th Annual Conference of Confucius Institutes.

Besides delivering Chinese language courses, the Confucius Institute of the University of Bucharest also deals with promoting bilateral cultural relationships. For achieving this, the Institute organizes cultural exhibitions, debates on various topic regarding the collaboration relationships between the two countries, book launchings, scientific conferences, workshops. The institute provides the perfect framework for making such events, inviting reputed Sinologists as well as well-known specialists in various fields.