2026 Annual Board Meeting of the CICU Held
On October 22, the 2026 Annual Board Meeting of the Confucius Institute jointly founded by Coventry University and Jiangxi University of Finance and Economics was held at JUFE in a hybrid online-offline format. Marking the 10th anniversary of the Institute, the Chinese and British representatives gathered to comprehensively review its educational outcomes, the annual budget and work plan, and jointly discuss the development plan for the Confucius Institute in the new stage.
Yuan Honglin, Vice President of JUFE, attended the meeting on behalf of the university and delivered a welcome address. Richard Wells, Vice-Chancellor of Coventry University (UK), Craig Blyth, Pro-Vice-Chancellor of Coventry University, Luo Shujun, Chinese Director of the Confucius Institute at Coventry University（CICU）, Zeng Xianfei, former Chinese Director, and Zhan Yan, a Chinese language teacher, together with other staff from both universities, participated in the meeting either in person or online. The meeting was chaired by Liu Xiaobing, Deputy Director of the Office of International Cooperation and Exchange.
On behalf of JUFE, Yuan Honglin expressed his gratitude to Coventry University for its strong and long-standing support for the development of the Confucius Institute. Looking back on the Institute’s achievements over the past decade, Yuan noted that its 10th anniversary marks an important milestone. He hoped the Institute would continue to prioritize Chinese language teaching as its core mission, facilitate the launch of more joint master’s programmes, and expand channels for faculty and student exchanges as well as joint research. With language as the bridge and culture as the medium, the two universities can further deepen cooperation and contribute to exchanges and mutual learning between Chinese and British civilizations.
Richard Wells delivered an online address. He remarked that despite various challenges including the pandemic over the ten years of partnership, the Confucius Institute has thrived and become one of the outstanding Confucius Institutes in the UK. He extended his gratitude to all staff members in China and the UK for their hard work. He pointed out that cross-cultural understanding is increasingly important in the current era and expressed his expectation that the Institute will achieve new successes in the next decade and empower the high-quality development of both universities.
Craig Blyth attended the meeting in person. He reviewed the friendly exchanges between the two universities and looked forward to extending cooperation beyond the Confucius Institute to explore more areas for educational collaboration. He spoke highly of the Institute’s efforts to popularize the Chinese language and fine traditional Chinese culture among local universities, primary and secondary schools, acknowledged the outstanding contributions made by successive Chinese Directors to its development, and expressed high expectations for the Institute in the next decade.
At the meeting, Luo Shujun, Chinese Director of the Confucius Institute, and Zhan Yan, a Chinese language teacher, delivered the annual work report. In the 2025–2026 academic year, the Institute offered multi-level Chinese language and cultural courses, achieving a learner satisfaction rate of 97%. A series of commemorative activities for the 10th anniversary were successfully held.
The board meeting concluded successfully. Standing at the new starting point of its 10th anniversary, the two universities will continue to leverage the Confucius Institute as a platform to further deepen educational and people-to-people exchanges and cooperation, and write a new chapter for exchanges and mutual learning between Chinese and British civilizations.