On March 20,2025, a delegation from the Confucius Institute at Leipzig University (Universität Leipzig) in Germany, including Philip Clart (Foreign Director and Head of the Department of Oriental Studies), Yang Qingfang (Chinese Director), Tian Yaming (Executive Director), and Liu Zheng (Head of the European and African Affairs Division, Nanjing Municipal Foreign Affairs Office), visited Nanjing University. They held an exchange and cooperation symposium with the School of Arts at Nanjing University. The symposium was attended by Zhao Kuiying, Dean of the School of Arts at Nanjing University, Chen Min, head of the German Department at the School of Foreign Studies, and faculty representatives Li Qian, Hu Zhiyue, and Wang Shixiao. The meeting was chaired by Wang Shixiao.
At the beginning of the meeting, Dean Zhao Kuiying warmly welcomed the delegation from Leipzig University on behalf of the School of Arts. She provided a detailed introduction to the historical heritage, organizational structure, faculty strength, talent cultivation, and artistic creation of the School of Arts at Nanjing University. She also shared the outstanding achievements made by the School of Arts in internationalization efforts in recent years. She expressed her hope to further advance cooperation between the School of Arts at Nanjing University and Leipzig University, making greater contributions to cultural and artistic exchanges between the two institutions and their host cities.
Professor Philip Clart expressed his honor to visit the School of Arts at Nanjing University. He introduced that Leipzig University, founded in 1409, is one of the oldest universities in Germany, renowned for its excellence in cultural studies and international education. Chinese scholars such as Cai Yuanpei once studied there. Rooted in Germany's rich educational and cultural heritage, Leipzig University boasts diverse academic programs, abundant academic resources, and research facilities. He emphasized that Leipzig University has always valued cooperation with internationally renowned institutions and looked forward to achieving substantive progress in higher education and talent cultivation through this visit.
Dean Yang Qingfang spoke about the deep affection of the people of Leipzig for Chinese culture and expressed her hope that faculty and students from the School of Arts at Nanjing University could contribute to local cultural dissemination. She warmly invited faculty from the School of Arts to host seminars and academic conferences at Leipzig University to promote interaction and exchange between Chinese and German academic circles. She also looked forward to students from the School of Arts leveraging their strengths to enhance the artistic literacy of the Confucius Institute at Leipzig University, supporting activities related to Chinese culture, and actively promoting academic exchanges, talent exchange, and cross-cultural dissemination of Chinese culture between the two institutions.
Director Liu Zheng, in his speech, recalled the deep friendship between the Nanjing Municipal Foreign Affairs Office, the School of Arts at Nanjing University, and Leipzig University, expressing his admiration and respect for both institutions. He then shared the achievements of the European and African Affairs Division of the Nanjing Municipal Foreign Affairs Office in Europe, particularly in promoting cultural exchanges and cooperation between China and Germany. He highly commended the exchanges between the School of Arts at Nanjing University and Leipzig University, noting that this cooperation not only advances academic research but also strengthens the deep friendship between the peoples of the two countries. Liu Zheng expressed his hope for continued collaboration between the government and universities to further promote cultural exchanges, academic cooperation, and talent exchange between the two institutions.
Following this, representatives from both sides engaged in in-depth discussions on topics of mutual interest. Both parties acknowledged shared focuses in teaching, research, and talent cultivation in the fields of cultural studies, arts and humanities, and cultural creativity. They expressed their desire to deepen mutual understanding through further exchanges and cooperation, exploring and advancing potential areas of collaboration.
The meeting concluded with a group photo of all participants
