On June 13, the implementation agreement signing ceremony of the Audi-Ingolstadt Confucius Institute was held at Confucius Institute Headquarters (Hanban) in Beijing.
Initiated by Hanban, South China University of Technology (SCUT), Audi AG, the municipal government of Ingolstadt and Technische Hochschule Ingolstadt (THI), the multi-party effort is setting up the world’s first Confucius Institute that involves funding support and cooperation from a multinational enterprise.
The event was attended by Chief Executive of Confucius Institute Headquarters and Director General of Hanban Ms. Xu Lin, THI President Professor Walter Schober, Audi China Human Resources Director Mr. Michael Gross, Ingolstadt city spokesman Dr. Gerd Treffer, and South China University of Technology Executive Vice President Professor Peng Xinyi.
After a delegation from Germany visited SCUT in this March to discuss preparation details of building the Confucius Institute in Ingolstadt, the ambitious program is finally nailed down after the implementation agreement was signed in the capital, expecting to open a new pattern of cooperation between Confucius Institutes and their overseas enterprise partners.
The new institute is funded by Audi AG and Ingolstadt’s municipal government, while Hanban and SCUT will be providing teaching staff, text books and course settings, and THI will be providing teaching venues, equipments and management staff
Situating in the centre of Bavaria, Ingolstadt is a German city full of history and industrial tradition. It is also where the headquarters of Audi AG, a world-famous automobile brand, is located. SCUT and THI, a prestigious polytechnic university in Ingolstadt, have established wide cooperation in engineering areas, especially electron techniques, mechanical engineering and automobile techniques.
The Audi-Ingolstadt Confucius Institute intends to offer high-quality Chinese language teaching services to faculty and students at THI, staff of Audi and local people of Ingolstadt. It also creates an opportunity to enhance the two universities’ cooperation in education and scientific research, as well as to promote communication and exchanges in technology, economy and culture between China and Germany.
After setting up the Lancaster University Confucius Institute in 2011 and the University of Idaho Confucius Institute in 2013, SCUT now adds the Audi-Ingolstadt Confucius Institute as its third Confucius Institute co-operated with overseas partners.
Chinese version by School of International Education
Translated and rewritten by Xu Peimu and Lin Jiaxin
Edited by Xu Peimu
