A new centre to promote Chinese culture and language was launched at the University last week.
The new Confucius Institute has been created to promote China鈥� its history and culture and to build the capacity of the University in delivering education on Contemporary China.
Professor Lu Maozu鈥� Director of the Confucius Institute and the Centre for Contemporary China鈥� comments鈥毬犫�淐hina is now a major player in our global economy. Understanding the country and its language is vital and will give our region an advantage in the future.鈥�
In order to build a network of Chinese language learners, staff from the Institute will visit schools in Hampshire to give taster sessions in Mandarin Chinese, calligraphy, culture and history and to support Chinese language learning. Local businesses, students and staff at the University will also benefit from an expansion of opportunities to study Mandarin.
The launch of the Institute, in partnership with Xiamen University, located on the south east coast of China, was attended by Xiamen President Zhu Chongshi, the Chinese Ambassador HE Mr Liu Xiaoming , Sir Leonard Appleyard, former British Ambassador to China and senior fellow at the University of Southampton鈥檚 Centre for Contemporary China, and Southampton Vice-Chancellor, Professor Don Nutbeam.
The Confucius Institute will work closely with the Centre for Contemporary China, providing the background understanding of Chinese language and culture necessary to establish the University as one of the UK鈥檚 key centres for China studies.