Prof. Peter Clayton, Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Prof. Marius Vermaak, Director of Confucius Institute of Rhodes University (RU) visited Jinan University (JNU) on December 9 to attend the annual meeting of Board of Advisors of Confucius Institute at Rhodes University (CIRU). Prof. Lin Rupeng, Vice President of Jinan University met the guests. Executives of Office of International Exchange and Cooperation, College of Chinese Language and Culture were also part of the meeting.
        VP Lin warmly welcomed Rhodes guests. He also appraised the work done by both sides in 2015. He said, the year 2015 is a major turning point for CIRU. First of all, Prof. Zhang Jun has taken over the position as the Chinese Director of CIRU, a stable and a smooth transition of the administration affairs; secondly, CIRU has officially offered a new selective course Understanding China to all the RU students, expanding the influence of CIRU; besides, Honors Program of China Studies, an equivalence of master program, started admission earlier this year, a major step ahead for the development of the academic system. On behalf of Jinan University, VP Lin extended heartfelt appreciation to Rhodes University and two directors of CIRU for their continuous support and hard work.
        DVC Clayton and Director Vermaak appreciated VP Lin’s support, who also expected to deepen mutual cooperation and push forward the progress of Model CI Construction. Prof. Vermaak also hoped to enhance cultural communication by providing more opportunities for South African art groups to perform in Guangzhou.

        Before coming to Guangzhou, Prof. Clayton and Prof. Vermaak also attended the Confucius Institute Conference held in Shanghai where they had interactions with Confucius Institute partners around the globe.