From December 7 to 9, 2023, the first World Chinese Language Conference was held at the National Convention Center aiming at promoting the high-quality development of international Chinese language education, deepening Sino-foreign language exchanges and cooperation, and enhancing people-to-people communication and international understanding. President Lei Rujin and Vice President Yu Xiang were invited by the Sino-Foreign Language Exchange and Cooperation Center of the Ministry of Education to attend the conference.

Lei Rujin and Yu Xiang attended the launch ceremony of the Global Chinese Language Alliance Conference and Language Exhibition, the Confucius Institute Development Forum, the Academic Annual meeting of the World Association for Chinese Language Teaching, the World Chinese Language Conference, and many other international forums and exhibitions. Discussions will be held on the new achievements, new demands, and new hotspots of language education and mutual learning of civilizations, Sino-foreign educational exchanges and cooperation, Chinese service vocational education, digital development of Chinese education, etc., to gather domestic and overseas forces to jointly promote the construction of a new pattern of high-quality development of international Chinese language education. The Rhyme of Irish Tap Dance art group from Ulster University, cofounded Confucius Institute in Northern Ireland with us, and gave a warm-up performance at the main forum of the conference, which was highly praised by all the participants.

During the conference, Ma Jianfei, director of the Sino-Foreign Language Exchange and Cooperation Center of the Ministry of Education, fully affirmed the Confucius Institute for Northern Ireland at Ulster University, and gave guidance to the international Chinese language education and international student education of our university, pointing out the direction of efforts for the internationalization of the school.

With the theme of The Chinese Language Serves the World, Leads the Future, the conference is hosted by the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China and co-hosted by the Chinese-Foreign Language Exchange and Cooperation Center, the China Foundation for International Chinese Language Education and the World Association of Chinese Language Teaching. The conference is attended by government leaders, educational authorities, international organizations, heads of international language and cultural institutions, university presidents, which amounts to about 2,000 people, including well-known Chinese education experts, sinologists, diplomatic envoys in China, and representatives of Chinese education institutions (enterprises), attended the conference.

Deng Guangjun, head of the President’s Office, Yu Songlin, deputy director of the International Exchange and Cooperation Department, and Shi Xiangyu, deputy director of the International Exchange and Cooperation Department also attended the meeting together.