The 12th Confucius Institute Board of Directors meeting was held in Lebanon this year, on Thursday 27 September 2018 at the Confucius Institute headquarters.

A Chinese delegation paid a visit to Rev. Salim Daccache, s.j., Rector of USJ. The delegation was headed by Mr. Jia Yuming, delegate of the Central Committee of the Communist Party at Shenyang Normal University (SNU), who was accompanied by Mr. Zhan Wei, Director of the Exchange and International Board, Mr. Lu Quan, Director of the Finance Department, Mr. Li Feng, Director of the International Business College Institute, and Mrs. Hu Bo, interpreter and Secretary of the Exchange and International Department.

Prof. Antoine Hokayem, Director of the Confucius Institute, was present at this convivial meeting, as were the members of the Board of Directors (Paul Mattar, Director of the Monnot Theater, Prof. Henri Awaiss, Director of the Language Observatory, and Mrs. Nisrine Abdelnour Lattouf, Director of the Institute of Physiotherapy). The aim of the meeting was to strengthen the partnership between USJ and SNU, thus the Rector’s suggestion of signing a memorandum of understanding between the two universities so as to develop a translation degree that includes the Chinese language.

At the end of the meeting and a chat on Chinese history and culture on one hand and Lebanese conviviality - which strongly marked Mr. Jia Yuming - on the other, the Rector offered a medal to the Chinese delegate and received in turn a jade statuette of a prehistoric creature. Lebanese and Chinese pastries were also exchanged, and a lunch at the Atelier restaurant followed the meeting.