On March 31, Professor Paul Seawright, Vice President of Ulster University (UU), UK, visited Hubei Normal University (HBNU). Li Hong, Chairman of the Board at HBNU and Vice President Yu Xiang attended the meeting, as well as the heads from International Exchange and Cooperation Office, School of Foreign Languages, School of Music, School of Fine Arts, Economic management and law school.

Prof. Li Hong extended a warm welcome to Prof. Paul Seawright, briefly introduced the capital construction and development of the university, and reviewed the cooperation process between UU and HBNU over the years. He said that the two universities had embraced a deep friendship for years, and particularly the joint venture of the Confucius Institute for Northern Ireland at Ulster University (CINIUU) had been more than 10 years. He hoped that through this exchange, the CINIUU should continue to promote and improve the education course and enhance the friendly exchanges between the peoples from two sides. Li Hong also heartily invited the President of Auster University to lead a delegation to participate in the 50th anniversary celebration of HBNU in the coming November.

 

Prof. Paul Seawright said that in the past 10 years, HBNU and UU have maintained a positive, enthusiastic and fruitful cooperative relationship, and will continue to develop more widely and profoundly. Prof. Paul Seawright highly recognized the work of the Chinese Co-director, international Chinese teachers and volunteers sent by HBNU, and sincerely appreciated their generosity and dedication.

Subsequently, the participants had in-depth exchanges on further strengthening the cooperation between the two universities.

After the welcome ceremony, Prof. Paul Seawright also visited the School of Foreign Languages, and was invited to hold a special lecture on The Current Situation of Foreign Language Teaching in Primary and Secondary schools in Northern Ireland and Its Implications for the Promoting Chinese Language Teaching in Confucius Institutes in the British Studies Center of HBNU, and interacted with teachers and students afterwards.