Zhuo Zhi pointed out that China and Macedonia have always had a good relationship. Since the establishment of the Confucius Institute by the two universities, the two governments have given strong support to the development of the Confucius Institute and have fully affirmed the achievements of the Confucius Institute. With the Confucius Institute as the link, the high-level exchanges between the two universities have been frequent, the teachers and students have continued to exchange, and the cooperation has continued to deepen. He hopes that the two universities will invest more in the future and jointly run the Confucius Institute. At the same time, it will continue to expand the breadth and depth of cooperation between the two universities, actively promote the substantive academic exchanges and cooperation between the Central and Eastern European and Balkan Regional Research Centers, and respond to the Belt and Road Initiative to build an educational community.
Nikola Jankulovski expressed his gratitude to Southwestern University of Finance and Economics for its long-term support for the development of the Confucius Institute. He said that the Confucius Institute launched a number of cultural and academic activities with extensive influence in 2018. Ss Cyril and Methodius University will continue to support the construction and development of the Confucius Institute and further promote the academic cooperation and cultural exchanges between teachers and students and between the two universities.
After the meeting, the two sides held the 2018 Council of the Confucius Institute at Ss Cyril and Methodius University – Southwestern University of Finance and Economics. Representatives of the councils of the two sides and relevant responsible persons attended the meeting and jointly reviewed the annual work report of Confucius Institute in 2018 and the work plan for 2019.
Yin Qingshuang expressed the hope that in the future, the two universities will give full play to the role of Confucius Institutes in the basic tasks , and expand the multi-level cooperation projects of students, academics and scholars, and build a comprehensive exchange platform for government, enterprises and universities.
Biljana Angelova said that the Confucius Institute has achieved gratifying results under the joint efforts of Hanban/Confucius Institute Headquarters, Ss Cyril and Methodius University and Southwestern University of Finance and Economics. In the future, she hopes that the two universities will continue to strengthen exchanges and expand a broader space for cooperation.
(By Jiahui)