On May 7th, the opening ceremony of the 13th International Culture Festival of Jiangsu University (JSU) was held at the library square. The theme of this year’s festival is “Join hands towards a shared future”. More than 1000 overseas students from 85 countries, about 3000 Chinese teachers, students and Zhenjiang citizens attended the opening ceremony.
The International Culture Festival kicked off with the opening dance "The Best Stage" performed by more than 90 Chinese and foreign students. The opening ceremony was also attended by the following Chinese and foreign VIP guests, namely President of Jiangsu University Prof. Yan Xiaohong, Vice Secretary of the University Party Committee Prof. Li Hongbo, Vice President Prof. Zhao Yutao, Member of the Standing Committee of the University Party Committee and head of Publicity Department Prof. Yang Daojian, Deputy Director of the Zhenjiang Development and Reform Commission Xing Bo, Deputy Director of the Zhenjiang Foreign Affairs Office Xu Decheng, Director of the Entry & Exit Administration Division of the Zhenjiang Public Security Bureau Tao Yong, Deputy Director of the Jingkou District Branch of the Public Security Bureau Luo Haibo, Chairman of Jiangsu Lianfa Textile Co., Ltd., Pan Zhigang, Chairman of Danyang Tianlu Glasses E-commerce Co., Ltd., Yu Ruitai, a manager of Logistics Department of Magnabluesky New Energy Vehicle Technology (Zhenjiang) Co., Ltd., who is a foreign guest, as well as some other leaders of relevant departments of JSU.
President Prof. Yan Xiaohong delivered an address in which he remarked that the International Culture Festival has become a beautiful showcase of our university campus culture. He also said that over the past 12 years, the university has attached great importance to the internationalization strategy in its development, and consequently made remarkable achievements in Sino-foreign cultural exchanges, international talent training and education concerning the Belt and Road initiative. For many years in a row, our achievement in overseas students education has always ranked among the first echelon of all the Institutions of Higher Learning in Jiangsu Province. The president also expressed his hope that through the International Culture Festival Chinese and foreign teachers and students can further experience a multicultural atmosphere, promote mutual learning among diverse civilizations, enhance understanding, gain friendship, and grow together with an open mind and inclusive attitude, and make our due contribution to the expanding of education opening-up and the building of a better world.
During the opening ceremony, Vice President Prof. Zhao Yutao, along with General Manager of Nanjing Automobile Import and Export Co., Ltd. Xu Qiren, and Chief Engineer of Zhenjiang Longshun Metal Technology Co., Ltd. Wang Xuefeng, jointly participated in the release ceremony of the "Jiangsu University Freshman Scholarship for International Students sponsored by Donghua Automobile Industry Co., Ltd." and the "Jiangsu University Freshman Scholarship for International Students sponsored by Zhenjiang Longshun Metal Technology Co., Ltd.". Director of the Office of the Yangtze River Delta Research Institute of Beijing Jiaotong University Lin Gaoyuan, provided on-site guidance for the "Overseas Market Research Competition co-sponsored by Jiangsu University and the Yangtze River Delta Research Institute of Beijing Jiaotong University".
After that, Vice Secretary Prof. Li Hongbo officially declared open the 13th International Culture Festival.
What came next was a performance show consisting of 30 programs. Teachers and students from China, Pakistan, Russia, Ghana, India, Thailand and other countries brought wonderful performances such as traditional dance, song singing and featured costume show, vividly showing the diverse cultures from the five continents and bringing an audio-visual feast to the audience present.
In addition, international students from nearly 40 different foreign countries have carefully arranged exhibition booths to showcase their own countries’ customs and superb cuisines. Chinese and foreign students dressed in distinctive costumes, as well as on-site audience, strolled among the exhibition booths, tasted featured delicious foods, or participated in interactive games in order to experience the collision and fusion of different cultures. The Foreign Affairs Office of Zhenjiang Municipal Government, the Exit and Entry Administration Detachment of Zhenjiang Public Security Bureau, the International Office, the Language and Culture Center, the Cranfield Graduate School of Future Technology and some other units of our university also set up their own booths to give publicity to some issues like joint education programs, Chinese traditional culture and anti-scam measures, etc..
Participants in this event also had the great pleasure of taking a look at the exhibition showcasing ten-years’ educational achievements made by JSU upon its integration into the Belt and Road initiative.
This year’s festival will last from May to November, during which a series of special events will be held, including cultural exhibitions from various countries, talent competitions for Chinese and foreign students, academic forums for Chinese and foreign graduate students, dialogue among entrepreneurs, innovation and entrepreneurship competitions for international students, job fairs, etc., in order to enhance the international atmosphere of the campus, promote international cooperation in politics, industry, academia, and research, and further boost the development of the school's international education.
