Some of the attendees from the 11th Confucius Institute Conference pose for a photo. The conference drew 2,400 delegates from 140 countries and regions. Themed “innovation, cooperation, inclusion, and sharing”, the two-day event was focused on the exchange ideas and practices for Chinese language teaching between Chinese and foreign professionals to boost the progress of Confucius institutions. The conference has been staged annually for the past ten years. So far, a total of 511 Confucius Institutes have been established in over 140 countries around the globe with 5.1 million students enrolled in all. Furthermore, altogether 14 forums and two symposia took place during the 2-day-long event. [Photo from en.kunming.cn]

Jing Wei (L), Deputy Director-General of Hanban and Deputy Chief Executive of Confucius Institute Headquarters, signs a contract with UNC Charlotte’s Vice President Joan Frances Lorden (R) for co-establishment of a Confucius Institute. [Photo from sxu.edu.cn]

At the signing ceremony, SXU’s Vice President Yang Jun (fourth, left) represents the university and meets with the UNC Charlotte delegation headed by Joan Frances Lorden (third, right). At the meeting, SXU’s Party secretary Shi Shuai spoke of the school’s desire to foster the mutually beneficial partnership between the two institutions. The two schools reached a consensus on a series of issues including academic sharing and exchanges of their faculty and students. [Photo from sxu.edu.cn]

Logo of Confucius Institute. It is a non-profit public educational organization affiliated with the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China, whose mission is to promote Chinese language and culture, support local Chinese teaching internationally, and facilitate cultural exchanges. The program was started in 2004, overseen by the Confucius Institute Headquarters (Hanban). Hanban is a non-profit government organization connected with the Chinese Ministry of Education, and committed to providing Chinese language and cultural teaching resources and services worldwide, it goes all out in meeting the demands of foreign Chinese learners and contributing to the development of multiculturalism and the building of a harmonious world. [Photo from cn.bing.com]

The seal of UNC Charlotte. UNC Charlotte, opened Sept 23, 1946, is a public research institution in North Carolina, United States. As a research-intensive university, UNC Charlotte is the fourth largest of the 17 institutions within the University of North Carolina system and the largest public institution in the Charlotte region. It leverages its location in the state’s largest city to offer globally competitive programs for research and creative activity, exemplary undergraduate, graduate, and professional programs, and a focused set of community engagement initiatives. UNC Charlotte maintains a particular commitment to addressing the cultural, economic, educational, environmental, health, and social needs of the greater Charlotte region. It is classified as a doctoral research university by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and listed as the 38th top college in the United States by the Social Mobility Index college rankings. [Photo from en.wikipedia.org]