The University of Washington in Seattle, US, witnessed from August 3rd to 5th, 2017, the Fifth Educational Cooperation Forum of Sichuan University Confucius Institutes, which was attended by Prof. Yan Shijing, Vice President of Sichuan university, Dr. Jeffrey Riedinger,Vice President of University of Washington, Dr. Stefaine Lindquist, Vice President of Arizona State University, Dr. Seowon Kam, Vice President of Woosong University, as well as Chinese/foreign deans and some core teachers/experts from theConfucius Institutes in Washington State, and at the University of Utah, Arizona State University, Woosong University, and Vrije Universiteit Brussel.

In his keynote speech, Prof. Yan Shijing first introduced Sichuan University’s ambition to build a world-class university, which provides new opportunities for the development of Confucius Institutes, and poses new challenges to them as well. Then he called on these Confucius Institutes to actively integrate into Sichuan University’s endeavor to build a world-class university, and seek new development opportunities; to beef up topnotch Confucius Institute awareness, build high level and high quality Confucius Institutes suited to respective regional cultural and social characteristics, secure sustainable development, and turn these Confucius Institutes in cooperation with Sichuan University into bases for international education of Chinese language and promotion of Chinese Culture, and turn them into Sichuan University’s windows for international publicity, its information centers and propellers for introducing high-end talents, admission points for international students and liaison stations for overseas alumni.

Each Confucius Institute introduced their work and achievements since the Fourth Educational Cooperation Forum of Sichuan University Confucius Institutes, then shared their experiences and future plans. The Confucius Institute at Arizona State University briefed the Forum about the situation of including Chinese language into its AP Program (the first ever institute in such initiative in USA) based on its own characteristics; the Confucius Institute at VUB-Vrije Universiteit Brussel introduced its three major functions: education, research and communication; the Confucius Institute in Washington State exchanged views on strategic planning for the next three to five years and how to leverage the Confucius Institute platform to promote high-level exchanges between Chinese and foreign countries; the Confucius Institute at Woosong University reported its functioning status and experiences on how to fuel communication and cooperation with the host university; and the Confucius Institute at Utah University introduced its operation and latest progress of immersion teaching in Chinese. The meeting held a thematic discussion around the speeches of the Confucius Institutes, talked over the problems encountered by the Institutes, and Put forward corresponding suggestions and solutions.

The Educational Cooperation Forum of Sichuan University Confucius Institutes hosted by Sichuan University is organized by Sichuan University and its cooperative Confucius Institutes in turn at regular intervals. This session was organized by the University of Washington, and chaired by Dr. Jeffrey Riedinger, Vice President of this university.