(Translated by Li Shan, Proofread by Sun Wei) On March 4, the opening ceremony of Nankai University's Spring Semester 2022 Chinese Language Advanced Study Program and International Chinese Teachers Scholarship Online Special Training Program was held online. Wang Lixin, Dean of School of International Education (hereinafter referred to as SIE) and College of Chinese Language and Culture (hereinafter referred to as CCLC) of Nankai University, Ou Yingxi, Vice Dean of the SIE and the CCLC, Zou Yayan, Director of the Chinese Language Advanced Study Program, representatives of the International Student Office, representatives of overseas partner institutions, teachers and students, and all teaching staff of the Chinese Language Advanced Study Program attended the opening ceremony.

On behalf of Nankai University, Wang Lixin extended his welcome to all the students from the world who participated in the online program in the spring semester of 2022 and expressed his gratitude to the domestic and foreign partner institutions for their efforts in promoting the program. He pointed out that since the outbreak of the COVID-19 more than two years ago, Nankai University has been actively exploring new ways of online education based on cooperation with universities and institutions in more than 20 countries around the world. Several online programs with various levels and rich content were carried out, allowing more than 1,000 international young people who wanted to study in China but were unable to do so due to the epidemic to experience high-quality international education and Chinese language teaching through the Internet. He hoped that all the students could make full use of the opportunities of the online program to learn the Chinese language and understand Chinese culture and Chinese national conditions. Consequently, in the future, the participated students can hopefully become significant contributors to friendly exchanges between China and foreign countries in various fields, the friendship between Chinese people and people all over the world, and the peace and development of the world.

Lu Yao spoke as the representative of the teachers. On behalf of all the teachers of the SIE and the CCL, she welcomed the students who participated in the Chinese language advanced study program. She expressed that all teachers would bring the students abundant Chinese language and Chinese culture courses, and hoped that the students would follow the teachers through the “cloud” channel to start a new journey of learning Chinese language and experiencing Chinese culture.

Charlie, a student of a Chinese language advanced program from Turkmenistan, delivered a speech as a student representative. He said that this is his fifth year at Nankai University, and he has made remarkable progress along with all his Chinese and foreign students in the NKU family, and gained knowledge and friendship. He expressed that it was a wonderful experience to study at Nankai University, both online and offline.

Ms. Tang Biwei, the founder of Thai Block Chinese Study Abroad Agency, spoke as the representative of overseas partner institutions. She expressed her gratitude for the strong support from the Center for Language Education and Cooperation and spoke highly of Nankai University's careful preparation and course arrangements. According to Tang, as a prestigious university in China, Nankai University has received worldwide acclaim for its extraordinary Chinese language teaching. She hoped that the students could cherish this opportunity to learn Chinese online, refine their language skills, and experience Chinese culture in-depth with the help of the teachers.

Lastly, all the participants took an online group photo together. The opening ceremony ended successfully.

Since 2020, in order to effectively adapt to the new situation of the COVID-19 epidemic, serve the opening up undertakings of national education, and expand the overseas influence of Chinese language, culture, and higher education, Nankai University has been actively carrying out online Chinese language advanced study programs, which provided online education opportunities for young people around the world. These programs have been unanimously praised by Chinese learners all over the world, with a total of nearly 2,000 participants.