The Opening Ceremony of Groningen Confucius Institute Amsterdam

Published on 22.09.2016

The grand opening ceremony of Groningen Confucius Institute Amsterdam took place on 22th of September (Local time: 14:00-18:00) at the EYE Film Institute Netherlands. Up to 200 distinguished guests from educational, political and cultural fields were present.

Mr. Sibrand Poppema, President of University of Groningen and a board member of Groningen Confucius Institute, delivered a welcoming speech to kick off the ceremony. Mr. Wu Ken, Chinese Ambassador to the Netherlands, gave an opening speech to congratulate on the opening. Best wishes were also come from Mr. Ron Keller (Dutch Ambassador to China) and Mr. Hu Zhengrong (President of Communication University of China) through their video speeches.

Mrs. Jingyi Liu, Director of Groningen Confucius Institute, explained the reason why Groningen Confucius Institute will open the branch at Amterdam and announced a series of upcoming events and future plan in the new center in Amsterdam, and meanwhile expressed sincere appreciation to the consistent support from all the people from different domains. And she reiterated that this center is business-oriented, besides the predominant focus on Chinese language and Chinese culture.

Mr. Hans Schutte, Director General of Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, delivered a keynote speech. After that, he invited Ambassador Wu Ken, Director Jingyi Liu and Mrs. Xuefei Cao (Director of Groningen Confucius Institute) ,vice Director Jan Klerken to the stage. They jointly unveiled the plaque of Groningen Confucius Institute Amsterdam.

Four speakers were giving speeches (upper left: Ambassador Wu Ken; upper right: Mr. Hans Schutte; lower left: Mrs. Jingyi Liu; lower right: Mr. Sibrand Poppema)

The unveiling ceremony (from left to right: Mrs. Xuefei Cao, Mrs. Jingyi Liu, Mr. Hans Schutte, Ms. Jessica Rutgers, Mr. Wu Ken, Mr. Jan Klerken)

After the unveiling ceremony, educational forum and business forum were held. The educational forum was started by a presentation by Mike Enting, a student from University of Groningen, in which he shared his life in China and Chinese learning experiences with GCI and in Tsinghua University. What follows was the educational leaders forum, consisting of Mr. Poppema, Mr Bert Verveld (President of Amstedam University of the Arts) and Mrs. Yolande Ulenaers (Director of Scholengroep Rijk van Nijmegen). They all emphasized the importance of Chinese learning for Dutch students and complemented the leading role of Groningen Confucius Institute in promoting Chinese learning in schools in the Netherlands. The second forum focused on business, which began with a video story by Mr. Johan de Wit (Vice President, ING representative, Bank of Beijing). Business elites, including Mr. David van Traa (Director of Expatcenter Amsterdam), Mr. Li Feng (General Manager of ICBC Amsterdam Branch), Mr. Mario Fan (CEO of V2Future), carried out a heated discussion about the business cooperation between Chinese and Dutch companies. A shared belief among them was that the establishment of this new center would lay a foundation for more in-depth intercultural communication and business cooperation.

The educational leader forum (from left to right: Mr. Bert Verveld, Mrs. Yolande Ulenaers,Mr. Sibrand Poppema) and business elites forum (from left to right: Mr. David van Traa, Mr. Li Feng, Mr. Mario Fan) hosted by Mrs. Xuefei Cao

The ceremony was a great success, which was celebrated with a theater show known as The Little Snowman. The show was an infusion of Eastern and Western cultures, adding a touch of artistic qualities to the ceremony.

The live music show by Jorg Kaaij-sopraan, Robert Bosscher; the theatre show "The Little Snowman"; the audience

Check out more photos here !

So far, Groningen Confucius Institute has set up 11 Confucius Classroom in the Netherlands, with the student number rocketing from 20 in 2011 to 2000 now. Since the establishment the institute, it has been dedicating itself to Chinese language teaching, Chinese culture promotion, and business communication. These activities have born fruitful achievements, leading to the attainment of the title as the Confucius Institute of the Year in 2015.
Amsterdam is the hub of culture, art and commerce. The founding of Groningen Confucius Institute Amsterdam aims to meet the increasing demand of Chinese learning, interest in Chinese culture and commercial cooperation. In an interview, Ambassador Wu ken mentioned that this center will further the communication between China and the Netherlands, and make great contributions to collaboration in many areas, and cement two countries' friendship.

Until now, the opening ceremony has been extensively covered by many newspapers. Their reports can be found in the following links:

人民日报: http://bit.ly/2dKk31L

人民网: http://world.people.com.cn/n1/2016/0925/c1002-28738525.html

新华网: http://news.xinhuanet.com/world/2016-09/23/c_1119613531.htm

凤凰资讯: http://news.ifeng.com/a/20160923/50014194_0.shtml

欧华传媒: http://bit.ly/2cLyiBB

中国社会科学: http://bit.ly/2dsXGPC

中国网: http://news1.china.com.cn/live/2016-09/23/content_37013372.htm

一网荷兰: http://bit.ly/2cVHCWA

国际在线: http://news.cri.cn/20160923/658add53-2522-f107-ba38-65aa29765d37.html

腾讯网: http://news.qq.com/a/20160923/041216.htm

搜狐: http://learning.sohu.com/20160923/n469062622.shtml