Visit of the Director General of the Center for Language Education and Cooperation (CLEC) to the Confucius Institute of the University of Thessaly

On Wednesday, May 22, an official visit was made by the General Director of the Center for Language Education and Cooperation, Mr. Yunfeng Yu, to the Confucius Institute of the University of Thessaly (U.Th.).

The Center for Language Education and Cooperation is the supervisory authority of the Confucius Institutes and the exclusive authority for conducting the Chinese language certification exams worldwide.

Mr. Yu in his short visit to Greece as part of his world tour of the leading Confucius Institutes, chose the University of Thessaly and the Confucius Institute based in Volos, in order to meet with the Rectorate and Professors of the Institute.

In the meeting he had with the Vice Rector of International Relations, Outreach and Lifelong Learning of U.Th. and President of the Board of Directors of the Institute, Professor Spyridon Karamanos, and the Director of the Confucius Institute, Professor Georgios Petrakos, Mr. Yu said: 'My colleagues and I are very happy, although we are only two days in Greece, that we visited this the beautiful seaside town, and your University and we are grateful to the Director of the Institute for the support. I am very grateful to the Rectorate but also to the whole community of the University of Thessaly for their support.'

Mr. Yu added that despite the extensive flood damage to the classrooms on the first floor of the building, the overall appearance of the Confucius Institute left him with an outstanding impression. Also, Mr. Yu added: 'On behalf of the Center for Chinese Language and Cooperation, I am grateful to the Vice-Chancellor of International Relations, Outreach and Lifelong Education of the University of Thessaly and the Director of the Confucius Institute for their support to the entire work of the Institute. Confucius. Director Professor Xiaohong Wang, and the staff of the Institute, told us that they are not only very happy to live here, but also feel very productive. This would not have been possible without the strong support of our Greek friends.'

The Vice Rector of the University of Thessaly, Professor Spyridonas Karamanos, after welcoming the visitors stated: 'I think this is a wonderful day for us and I am very happy that friends from China are visiting the University of Thessaly, and I believe this is due to the Confucius Institute . It is impressive to see the keen interest of the locals in Chinese culture and China in general. We receive letters from primary and secondary schools requesting to visit the Chinese Language and Culture Institute, which is really heartwarming. For my part, I welcome you, thank you for the care, resources and support you offer to the Confucius Institute, and I wish you a pleasant day in Greece.'

'Welcome to Greece and Volos' said the Director of the Institute and former Rector of the University of Thessaly, Professor George Petrakos, and went on to describe the planning for the future activities and educational directions of the Confucius Institute. A development direction of cooperation is the organization of joint activities with Chinese universities, including the Central University of Finance and Economics, from the simplest forms, such as student or professor exchanges, to deeper cooperation, such as joint training programs for graduates. The University of Thessaly is a university that covers almost all scientific subjects with wide areas of scientific specialization. We have 35 departments and we want to improve and we want to expand our internationalization strategy not only in Europe and the United States, countries with which we already have strong ties, but also in China, an emerging power in education. We are therefore open to future collaborations.'

The visit of General Director Mr. Yu and the team of the Center for Chinese Language and Cooperation, who accompanied him, ended with lunch and a guided tour to the village of Makrinitsa.