The 2025 annual board meeting of the Confucius Institute co-established by Nanchang University (NCU) and the University of Castilla-La Mancha (UCLM) in Spain was held online on April 13. The meeting was attended by Wang Li, Vice President of Nanchang University, Raúl Martín Martín, Vice President of the University of Castilla-La Mancha, the Chinese and foreign directors of the Confucius Institute, and other board members.
The meeting reviewed and approved the Confucius Institute’s 2025 annual work report and its 2026 work plan. In-depth discussions were also held on future cooperation between the two universities in the fields of Pharmacy, Country and Region Studies, including joint talent cultivation, faculty and student exchanges, and participation in major international conferences.
Vice President Wang Li noted that the University of Castilla-La Mancha is one of Nanchang University’s most significant partners in Europe. Over the past decade, the two universities have jointly established the Confucius Institute and implemented a range of impactful projects in student exchanges, joint training, faculty exchanges, and collaborative research, achieving fruitful outcomes. In 2025, the Nanchang University Center for Spanish Studies was officially established, marking a new level of cooperation between the two institutions in the field of Country and Region Studies. He hoped that the Confucius Institute would continue to act as a bridge, promoting Chinese language education in Spain, fostering Sino-Spanish cultural exchanges, and facilitating more substantial, high-level, and sustainable cooperation projects benefiting more faculty and students from both universities.
Raúl Martín Martín reflected on the Confucius Institute’s nearly ten-year journey, noting that it has moved from startup to maturity and is now entering a critical phase of transformation. He stated that the institute should focus on three pillars--“university impact, social impact, and international impact”---to become more deeply embedded in academic life, reach a broader public, and develop more internationally recognized programs. He also hoped that, to mark UCLM’s anniversary in 2027, the two universities would organize a series of high-level academic and cultural events, taking Sino-Spanish educational and cultural exchanges to the next level.
The Confucius Institute at the University of Castilla-La Mancha was inaugurated in 2017. Since its establishment, the institute has placed Chinese language teaching at the core of its mission and worked to integrate Chinese courses into the university’s credit system and the local primary and secondary schools. Notably, a student from the institute won the global championship at the “Chinese Bridge” Chinese Proficiency Competition for Foreign Secondary School Students. Through a wide range of cultural exchange activities, the institute has earned a strong reputation in Chinese language education and made important contributions to enhancing Nanchang University’s international profile.
