Lancaster University Confucius Institute

Lancaster University is to establish a major new hub for Chinese language and culture on campus which will complement the extensive China research and teaching activities across the University .

The focus of the new Lancaster University Confucius Institute will be the development of credit bearing Chinese language and culture programmes for students in all faculties and for staff. It will also offer programmes for the local community, schools and businesses.

Aimed at the North West , it will be distinctive through its commitment to developing programmes which are adapted to support innovation, management and sustainable development - areas of expertise in which both partners excel. The Institute is awarded jointly to Lancaster and its partner the prestigious South China University of Technology(SCUT) in Guangzhou, and will be the 14th Confucius Institute in the UK to be approved by the Office of Chinese Language Council Internationa(Hanban).

On March 23, a signing ceremony for the Confucius Institute was held in China. President Li Yuanyuan (SCUT) and Professor Paul Wellings, Vice-Chancellor of Lancaster, signed the agreement over the Confucius Institute on behalf of the two universities. Mr. Wei Zhonglin, deputy director from the Department of Education of Guangdong Province, and Mr. Peter Harrington, Consul of Science and Innovation from the British Consulate General Guangzhou, also attended the ceremony with Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Lancaster, Professor Bob McKinlay.

At the ceremony, Li extended his gratitude to Hanban and Chinese Consulate General in Manchester for their great support and assistance. He said that SCUT will employ its best resources in management, staff and teaching materials to provide the high quality education to learners of Chinese language and culture in Lancaster region. Also, Li expected to further the cooperation between the two universities in other fields on the basis of Confucius Institute.

Professor Wellings introduced the cooperation between LU and Chinese universities. He said that the construction of Confucius Institute is based on the good exchanges and cooperation between the two sides and that all the Chinese programs on language and culture will be open to students, faculty, and the North West community.