From May 12th to May 21st, Sui Guangjun, Secretary of Party Committee and President of Guangdong University of Foreign Studies (GDUFS), paid a visit to Mozambique, Uganda and Kenya. He discussed with representatives of local government, universities, research institutions and Chinese enterprises abroad about academic cooperation, establishment of Confucius Institutes and high-level projects. Later, President Sui and representatives of Makerere University reached an agreement and signed cooperation agreement. During his visit, President Sui was received by Li Zhanshu, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, Veronica Nataniel Macamo, Speaker of Mozambican Parliament, Ruhakana Rugunda, Prime Minister of Uganda, as well as Zheng Zhuqiang, Chinese Ambassador to Uganda.
Chairman Li and President Sui
In the speech delivered at the opening ceremony of 2018 Joint Conference of Confucius Institutes in Africa, Chairman Li highlighted that the Confucius Institute was supposed to promote China-Africa relationship, knowledge sharing and cultural exchange.
Also, Chairman Li revealed the nameplate for Confucius Classroom, an academic cooperative project between Guangdong University of Foreign Studies and Ain Shams University.
Miss. Macamo and President Sui
Nameplate Revealing
President Sui further discussed with Dr. ABDELWAHAB MOHAMED EZZAT ABDELWAHAB ABUALI, President of Ain Shams University, teachers as well as Presidents of Confucius Institute at Cape Verde about specific issues concerning about Confucius Classroom, including the start time, faculties and development planning. Constructive suggestions had been put forward.
Representatives of GDUFS and Makerere University
On May 18th, President Sui paid a visit to Makerere University, and he met with Barnabas Nawangwe, President of Makerere University, Charles Wana Etyem, Chairman of the Council of Makerere University, as well as professors from Finance School, Business School and Law School.
President Sui mentioned that two universities could not only promote exchange in the field of language, business, management, humanities and social sciences, as well as science and engineering, but also promote cooperation in subject exchange and high-level university construction. Representatives of Makerere University talked about specific planing about the cooperation. At the end of the discussion, two parties signed the cooperation agreement.
New Vision, Uganda’s largest newspaper press, reported President Sui’s visit to Makerere University. State television of Uganda also kept track of President Sui’s visit to Makerere University. Barrebas Nawangwe, President of Makerere University, mentioned in the interview that President Sui’s visit had a positive and far-reaching significance for China-Africa cooperation in higher education, science and technology, as well as investment.
Reports about President Sui’s Visi
On May 18th, Ruhakana Rugunda, Prime Minister of Uganda, met with President Sui. Later, President Sui was received by Zheng Zhuqiang, Chinese Ambassador to Uganda, and Chu Maoming, political counselor of Chinese Ambassador to Uganda.
Prime Minister Rugunda and President Sui
Delegation of GDUFS Was Received by Prime Minister Rugunda
Ambassador Zheng and President Sui
Accompanied by Chen Wei, General Manager of Guangzhou Dongsong Energy Group Uganda Co., Ltd., delegation of GDUFS paid a visit to its industrial parks. The visit further deepened the strategic cooperation between two parties and promoted China-Uganda cooperation in education and industry. Consensus had been reached on a series of cooperative projects.
The delegation also visited Sino-Africa Joint Research Center, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT). President Sui made a brief introduction to the work of Guangdong Institute for International strategies and Institute for African Studies, and discussed issues regarding with investment in Africa, education and technology, highly appreciated by scholars of JKUAT.
Delegation of GDUFS and Scholars of JKUAT
GDUFS Delegation members included Liang Xuehong, President of Institute of Education for International Students, Ke Xiaohua, Vice President of Information School, and Ouyang Qianhua from School of Interpreting and Translation Studies.
On May 18th, Ruhakana Rugunda, Prime Minister of Uganda, met with President Sui. Later, President Sui was received by Zheng Zhuqiang, Chinese Ambassador to Uganda, and Chu Maoming, political counselor of Chinese Ambassador to Uganda.
