University of Novi Sad >>
Zhejiang A&F University/ Confucius Institute at University of Novi Sad in Serbia (CI at UNS)
I. History, background and purpose of the establishment of the CI at UNS
In 2013, Zhejiang A&F University jointly founded the Confucius Institute with the University of Novi Sad in Serbia, and in August of the same year, the representatives of ZAFU and UNS signed an implementation agreement. The inauguration ceremony was officially launched on May 27, 2014. The CI at UNS is the second Confucius Institute established by China’s Hanban in Serbia after CI at Belgrade University. The University of Novi Sad is the second National University of Serbia, an Eastern European country. The Chinese cooperative university, ZAFU is the first university in China to set up a tea culture major in China, and is actively carrying forward tea culture to the world.
Since it was unveiled in May 2014, the CI at UNS has made positive progress, innovation and sincere cooperation. It has overcome all kinds of difficulties, and has achieved superbly expected achievements in strengthening publicity, expanding popularity, expanding Chinese teaching points and holding Chinese cultural activities.
In recent years, there have been an increasing number of political, economic and educational exchanges between China and Serbia. Serbia and China have implemented the visa free system since 2017, and Chinese tourists have also regarded Serbia as a new tourist destination. The interest of the Serbian people in learning and understanding Chinese language and culture is increasing, which provides opportunities and demands for the spread of Chinese language and culture. In recent years, the CI at UNS, taking “The Belt and Road Initiative” as an opportunity to “send a Chinese voice, tell a good story of China culture” as the core direction, continues to explore the Confucius Institute characteristics and the sustainable development path, contributes itself to deepening the educational and cultural exchanges and cooperation between China and Serbia.
II. Purpose of the Establishment of CI at UNS
1. Setting up and promoting Chinese language courses and integrating them into the curriculum system of the University of Novi Sad.
2. Opening and carrying out various Chinese culture courses and activities, such as Chinese calligraphy, Chinese painting, Chinese traditional garden, Chinese tea art, Tai Chi and other cultural courses, Chinese calligraphy and painting exhibition, Chinese ancient poetry competition, Chinese traditional festival activities, and so on.
3. Revolving around the University of Novi Sad, carrying out cooperation and contacting with the local middle schools, primary schools and enterprises, and setting up different levels of Chinese courses to meet the learning needs of all social classes.
4. Strengthening ties and exchanges with local overseas Chinese associations.
5. Building small libraries / reference rooms with Chinese characteristics; offering Chinese courses in local libraries.
6. Creating the website of the Confucius Institute, and releasing curriculum and HSK examination information.
7. Organizing summer cultural tour to China activities and organizing local summer camps.
8. Organizing visiting delegations of education officials and principals to China to promote educational cooperation and exchanges between the two countries.
III. Development of the Confucius Institute
CI at UNS has been committed to Chinese teaching and cultural exchanges and cooperation between China and Serbia. In addition to the language courses (A1, A2, B1, B2 and C1), the Institute has organized various Chinese culture and skills courses for the university students, middle school students and local citizens in Serbia. The CI at UNS has set up teaching points in Belgrade, capital of Serbia and in Vojvodina Autonomous Province. Up to now, there are sixteen teaching points. These teaching points cover all ages from kindergarten, primary school and middle school to university. The teaching content also covers the various fields such as Chinese language, Chinese culture, Chinese traditional garden, Chinese folk art and other fields to meet the learning needs of different students. The number of registered students in CI is 3,205, with an age span of 5 to 78 years. The total number of YCT, HSK and HSKK test takers has reached 654 people since the establishment.
IV. Characteristics of the Confucius Institute at the University of Novi Sad
First, not only has the Confucius Institute at the University of Novi Sad opened different levels of Chinese language courses in its headquarters since its establishment, but it has also expanded and established 16 teaching points in Novi Sad, Belgrade, and Sabac, where Chinese interest courses have been opened to local citizens and kids. In addition, CI at UNS has opened Chinese language credit courses at the Faculty of Philosophy of UNS and at Karlovci High School. Karlovci High School was officially granted Confucius Classroom in March 2018．
CI at UNS is also the first Confucius Institute in the world that features the spread of Chinese tea culture. Taking Novi Sad as its center, CI at UNS influences many cities in Serbia. Based on Chinese language teaching, CI at UNS promotes Chinese culture through various multi-level and multi-theme Chinese cultural activities, especially tea culture activities, which has its distinctive characteristics and which influences widespread in Sebia. CI at UNS actively and effectively integrated into the cultural life of many communities in Serbia, and its various activities were reported by the Serbian mainstream media on many occasions. Its influence has continuously been expanded and it serves as an indispensable platform for the citizens of Novi Sad city and even of Serbia to learn Chinese and Chinese culture.
V. Achievements of the Confucius Institute at the University of Novi Sad (including chronological record of the major events)
The Confucius Institute at University of Novi Sad has been committed to Chinese language teaching, the cultural exchanges and cooperation between China and Serbia. It opens Chinese language courses for Serbian local citizens and students, and it carries out various skills courses with Chinese style. Besides, CI at UNS is also an official Chinese language testing centre for obtaining HSK, HSKK, BCT and YCT certificates. Anyone who has registered can learn Chinese language and Chinese culture here.
At present, CI at UNS has 16 Chinese language teaching points in primary schools, middle schools and universities in Belgrade and Novi Sad. Besides, it has also established a Confucius Classroom in the Karlovci High School. CI at UNS has offered Chinese language learning and Chinese cultural skills training courses for more than 1,000 students, and it successfully integrate Chinese language course into credit courses in the University of Novi Sad. In 2016, contestants from the CI at UNS entered the final top ten of the 8th “Chinese Bridge” Chinese Proficiency Competition for Foreign Secondary School Students and they won the Outstanding Online Popularity Award. In 2017, contestants from CI at UNS won all the championship and runners-up of both the junior and senior groups in the “Chinese Bridge” Chinese Proficiency Competition for Foreign Secondary School Students in Serbian. In the past four years, CI at UNS has organized hundreds of activities for promoting publicity of the Confucius Institute and Chinese culture, gaining much attention from media like Xinhuanet, Guangming Daily, International Online, and National Television, Educational Channel, and radio-Television stations of Vojvodina, and many other media in Serbia. With more than one million people involved, these activities have greatly met people’s needs for Chinese language learning in Vojvodina and the districts nearby.
CI at UNS has successfully organized the Chinese proficiency tests like YCT, HSK, and HSKK for several times for students from all over Serbia, and even students from Croatia, and Ukraine, and those test takers have achieved good results. CI at UNS organizes the summer tours to China and local summer camps in Serbia in July and August every year, both of which provide rich and colorful Chinese cultural courses such as calligraphy, Chinese tea art, Chinese medicine, and paper cutting that attracts students and local citizens from all walks of life.
Furthermore, the successful co-organization of the International Forum for Cooperation between Serbia and China with “One Belt One Road” and the “Naming of Chinese Plants and Chinese Culture” lecture has made CI at UNS better known and more influential.
In September 2017, the 5th China-Central and Eastern European Countries (CEEC) Education Policy Dialogue and the 4th Meeting of China-Central and Eastern European Countries (CEEC) Higher Education Institutions Consortium were held at the University of Novi Sad. The Confucius Institute took full advantage of this opportunity to push Chinese language learning and cultural communication into a new stage in Serbia by voluntarily translating the Chinese version of the website of the University of Novi Sad, helping translate conference materials, and actively carrying out educational and cultural promoting activities then.
Chronological record of the major events:
1. On May 17, 2014, CI at UNS held the 13th Chinese Bridge Chinese Proficiency Competition for Foreign College Students in Serbia, and Aihua, contestant of the CI at UNS won the champion, and took the finals in China on behalf of Serbia.
2. On May 27, 2014, the inauguration ceremony of CI at UNS was held in the university auditorium. 14 mainstream media, including Xinhua news agency, Serbia BETA news agency, Vojvodina TV station and RTV, conducted on-site interviews.
3. On July 8, 2014, CI at UNS received the agreement on Chinese examination for the Novi Sad University Confucius Institute, signed by Hanban, and became an official Chinese language testing centre for HSK, YCT and BCT examinations in Serbia.
4. In 2014, CI at UNS set up 3 teaching points: one in the CI, Mastolend Kindergarten and Karlovci Language High School. Chinese courses are offered to people from different levels to promote Chinese culture.
5. On January 11, 2015, CI at UNS was invited to participate in the founding of the Serbia Chinese Business Association. Serbian president Tomislav Nikolic and his wife, together with the Chinese ambassador to Serbia, officials of the Serbia government and friendly personages from all walks of life, attended the activity, in which Chinese culture was successfully demonstrated, thus it created favorable conditions for CI at UNS to further integrate into the mainstream society of Serbia.
6. At the night of January 22, 2015, CI at UNS and Novi Sad city library co-organized the Chinese “tea culture” exhibition for the first time, which attracted more than 200 local citizens.
7. On April 18, 2015, CI at UNS held the first Chinese Proficiency Test (HSK) in 2015. The examination consists of 1 to 4 four levels of examination, attracting 42 students and local citizens from different cities. The age span of candidates is very large, and the youngest is only 8 years old, the oldest is 69 years old.
8. On May 30, 2015, Kristina, a student of Karlovci Language High School which is one of CI’s teaching points, won the championship in the 8th “Chinese Bridge” Chinese Proficiency Competition for Foreign Secondary School Students in Serbia.
9. On October 19, 2015, University of Novi Sad first incorporated Chinese language into its credit courses.
10. In 2015, CI at UNS set up 5 new Chinese teaching points: Djordje Natosevic Primary School, Novi Sad City Library, Svetozar Markovic High School, Jovan Jovanovic High School, and Isidorina High School.
11. On May 14, 2016, contestants from CI at UNS, Teodora Milosavljevic and Zhao Li (Ivana Dinic) of the Karlovaci Language High School teaching point respectively won the championship of the senior group, and of the junior group in the 9th “Chinese Bridge” Chinese Proficiency Competition for Foreign Secondary School Students in Serbia.
12. On June 24, 2016, CI at UNS, Sino-Serbia Cultural Exchange Association and the Serbia Cavaliers Charitable Foundation jointly organized the first The Belt and Road Initiative Serbia entrepreneurs Cooperation Forum. Andrija Mladenovic, vice mayor of Belgrade, and more than 200 Sino-Serbia entrepreneurs attended the forum.
13. On October 3, 2016, the culture filming team of Vojvodina radio and TV station in Serbia came to CI at UNS to produce a special program on “Chinese tea culture”. This is the first time that the mainstream media in the region has produced special programs on Chinese culture.
14. On December 20, 2016, CI at UNS was invited to attend the opening ceremony of the Vojvodina Chinese Business Federation in Serbia. Serbian President Dragica Nikolic and more than 400 elites from all walks of life attended the opening ceremony. CI also jointly hosted the first International Forum on foreign investment in Serbia and the Chinese calligraphy and painting auction with the Chinese community, and all the proceeds were donated to the Dragica Nikolic Charity Foundation.
15. On January 20, 2017, Serbia local media ”Channel 9 (Kanal 9)” conducted a field interview on Chinese teaching in the Novi Sad City Library teaching point.
16. On January 28, 2017, CI at UNS held the “2017 Golden Rooster Spring Festival” activity. More than 100 students from different teaching points were present. The activities were reported by local mainstream media Vojvodina TV Station.
17. On February 3, 2017, Mastolend Kindergarten held “Cultural Carnival activities”, visitors from Poland, France, the United States and other countries participated in the cultural activities held by the CI teachers in the Mastolend Kindergarden.
18. On March 13, CI at UNS held the first principals’ meeting to discuss the Chinese language teaching in various teaching points, which effectively strengthened the friendly relations between the CI and various teaching partners.
19. On April 7, the “Foreigners in Serbia” filming team from the Radio and Television of Vojvodina (RTV) in Serbia recorded an interview at the CI at the UNS, which was televised to the local people. CI’s achievements in Chinese language teaching and in the promotion of Chinese culture in the past three years were introduced.
20. On April 13, Zhang Chunxian, Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Committee, visited Novi Sad, Serbia. The kids of the Maastolend Kindergarten, a teaching point of CI, expressed their best wishes in Chinese to welcome the distinguished guests.
21. On May 20, the HSKK exam was successfully held in CI at UNS for the first time.
22. On May 20, CI contestants, Qiao Shanyi (Milica Djordjevic) won the championship and Wu Taitian (Aleksandar Vujic) won the second prize in the junior group in the “Chinese Bridge” Language Proficiency Competition for College Students.
23. On May 26, CI at UNS held the 3rd anniversary celebration ceremony. The ceremony was completed with the handing over of the roles from the former Chinese director to the successor.
24. On June 3, 2017, contestants from CI at UNS, Zhao Li ( Ivana Dinic) and Ni Na(Nina Krstic) respectively won the championship of the senior group, and of the junior group in the 10th “Chinese Bridge” Chinese Proficiency Competition for Foreign Secondary School Students in Serbia. They represented Serbia to take the finals of 10th “Chinese Bridge” Chinese Proficiency Competition for Foreign Secondary School Students in China.
25. On June 6, the first “Belt and Road” China-Serbia Cooperation and Outlook International Forum was co-organized by the Marxism Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, the Confucius Institute at the University of Novi Sad in Serbia and the China-Serbia Cultural Exchange Association.
26. On June 22- 23, Serbia's third “Chinese Culture Festival” was jointly organized by Confucius Institute, Sino-Czech Cultural Exchange Association, Belgrade SAVSKI VENAC District Government and Knights Charity Federation Serbia Branch. Mr. Chen Hui, Chinese Director of CI at UNS, was interviewed by the National TV Station of Seychelles and gave a special lecture on “Naming of Chinese Plants and Chinese Culture”.
27. On August 21, the Chinese version of the website for Novi Sad University, translated by the Confucius Institute at the University of Novi Sad in Serbia, was officially launched. The local mainstream media in Vojvodina and the Novi Sad City made relevant reports.
28. On September 21-22, the Confucius Institute at the University of Novi Sad in Serbia was invited to perform tea ceremony on the opening ceremony of the 5th China-Central and Eastern European Countries (CEEC) Education Policy Dialogue and the 4th Meeting of China-Central and Eastern European Countries (CEEC) Higher Education Institutions Consortium. The tea ceremony performance was highly praised.
29. October 2 - 9, the Confucius Institute at the University of Novi Sad in Serbia held the first Chinese traditional medicinel experience activity to promote Chinese. Six activities were held in the two major cities of Novi Sad and Belgrade, and were warmly welcome by the local citizens.
30. On October 28, Chinese Director of CI at UNS, Mr. Chen Hui, together with CI Chinese teachers entered Svetozar Markovic High School and participated in the parents meeting and meet with the parents face to face for the first time.
31. On November 27-28, a joint conference of the Confucius Institutes of the Central and Eastern European countries was held in Budapest, Hungary. The Chinese director Chen Hui submitted two keynote speeches to the conference. The foreign director Ivana Secerus attended the meeting.
32. On December 7-9, 2017, President of University of Novi Sad, together with both Chinese director and Serbian director of CI at UNS, attended the “12th Confucius Institute Conference” held in Xi’an.
VI. Contact Information of the Confucius Institute at the University of Novi Sad
Country and City Novi Sad, Serbia
Institutions Foreign Institution: University of Novi Sad
Chinese Institution: Zhejiang Agriculture and Forestry University
Present Deans Chinese Dean: Prof.Chen Hui
Foreign Dean: Prof.Ivana Zivancevic Sekerus
Start running time May 27, 2014
ContactPerson of Contact: Chen Hui
Address: Dr Zorana Ðinđića 2, 21000 Novi Sad, Serbia
Tel:（381）021 6350003
E-mail: 2235900384@qq.com
