On December 4 and 5, at the 13th Confucius Institute Conference, the Confucius Institute in Bratislava, which was jointly established by Tianjin University and the Slovak University of Technology, was recognized as the “Confucius Institute of the Year”.

This title recognizes excellent Confucius Institutes that have achieved outstanding results in the dissemination of Chinese language and culture, as well as communication in international education and culture. Only 25 Confucius Institutes around the world have received this honor out of the total number of 548.

Tian Xuejun, Vice Minister of Education, awards the prize to Bratislava Confucius Institute

The 13th Confucius Institute Conference was held in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, with the theme of “Facilitating new development through reform and innovation; Forging a brighter future with concerted effort”. The conference involved many activities including university presidents' forums, topic forums and workshops. More than 1,500 guests were invited, including university presidents from over 154 countries and regions and representatives of Confucius Institutes and embassies.

Since its founding in February 2009, the Confucius Institute in Bratislava has become an important platform for promoting exchange and cooperation between China and Slovakia in education, culture, science and technology, economy and trade.

To date, the Confucius Institute in Bratislava has formed a curriculum of Chinese teaching from kindergartens and primary schools to universities and community colleges, achieving a wide coverage of various social groups. Outstanding achievements have been made in the past two years, with a remarkable increase in the number of students, cultural events and participants in these events, and a significant improvement in the quality of teaching. In 2018, the number of participants in the cultural events of the Institute reached more than 23,000. Specifically, the Terracotta Warriors Exhibition held by the Institute in Bratislava attracted great attention from Slovakia and neighboring countries, fully demonstrating the vitality and increasing influence of the Confucius Institutes.

Moreover, the Bratislava Confucius Institute jointly established the “Chinese-Slovak Bilingual Secondary Education Pilot Project” with a middle Slovak school, making that middle school the first to apply bilanguage education in both Slovak and Chinese in the country. The project has enrolled nearly 100 students and attracted much attention from the Ministries of Education of the two countries and many parts of society. Moreover, the Bratislava Confucius Institute promoted the "League of Universities of Scientific and Technological Innovation in China and Central Europe” strengthening the cooperation and exchanges between Chinese colleges and universities and universities of science and engineering in Central Europe, making full use of the Confucius Institute as a platform for communication.

The Confucius Institute in Bratislava, having become the mainstay in Chinese teaching, will stick to its initial role as a leading force in cooperation in various fields between the two countries in the future.