On the afternoon of April 11, President Duan Peng met with visiting former Peruvian Vice President and President of Universidad San Ignacio de Loyola Raúl Diez Canseco Terry, as well as Peruvian Ambassador to China Marco Balarezo.
President Duan Peng extended a welcome to President Raúl Diez Canseco Terry on behalf of Beijing Language and Culture University (BLCU). He introduced the university's history and mission, noting that BLCU has trained nearly 300,000 international alumni from 189 countries and regions who are proficient in Chinese and familiar with Chinese culture, including over 80 foreign dignitaries at the deputy prime minister level or above and more than 300 ambassadors. Globally, BLCU has established 23 Confucius Institutes and Classrooms, along with three overseas branches: Tokyo College in Japan, Bangkok College in Thailand, and a branch in Kazakhstan. It also conducts a Business Chinese associate degree program at Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University in Saudi Arabia.
President Duan stated that China is Peru's largest global trade partner, top export market, and primary import source. Educational exchanges and cooperation between Chinese and Peruvian universities are highly active. BLCU has signed a memorandum of cooperation with the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru, engaging in in-depth collaboration in areas such as Sinology, mutual learning among civilizations, mutual translation of classics, and international Chinese education. Looking ahead, with the support of President Raúl Diez Canseco Terry, both sides hope to expand cooperation in the following areas: First, establishing inter-university partnerships for student exchanges, summer camps, faculty and staff visits, and collaboration with the Latin American Research Center; Second, promoting Chinese education cooperation with Universidad San Ignacio de Loyola's Paraguay branch; Third, facilitating cooperation with the Peruvian Ministry of Education in developing localized Chinese teaching syllabi, textbooks, and resources; Fourth, establishing a Peru Sinology Center in Peru to jointly train master's and doctoral Sinology talent with Peruvian universities.
President Raúl Diez Canseco Terry thanked President Duan for taking time out of his busy schedule for the warm reception. He noted that President Duan's proposals are practical and visionary. He introduced Universidad San Ignacio de Loyola's beautiful campus and strong faculty, expressing hope for enhanced cooperation with BLCU in opening Chinese majors, co-establishing Confucius Institutes, and faculty-student exchanges to jointly cultivate youth talent for China and Peru.
Both sides expressed intent to sign an inter-university cooperation agreement as soon as possible to accelerate practical cooperation and promote educational and cultural exchanges between the two countries.
Peruvian Ambassador to China Marco Balarezo pointed out that bilateral educational exchange agreements are gradually upgrading. Currently, to strengthen cooperation with Chinese universities, the Peruvian government has evaluated domestic institutions, with Universidad San Ignacio de Loyola receiving high scores and being ranked among Peru's top 10 universities. He believes that under the leadership of both presidents, the future cooperation between the two universities will be full of bright prospects.
Attending the meeting were Director Dong Chuan of the Office of International Cooperation and Exchange, Dean Xu Baofeng of the Belt and Road Academy and School of Sinology and Chinese Studies, Chief Expert Chen Lixia of the International Chinese Education Practice and Research Base, Deputy Director Shen Yinghuan of the Office of International Cooperation and Exchange, Deputy Director Su Wenjuan of the Confucius Institute Office, and Director Sun Xintang of the Latin American Research Center.
(Edited by: Junyi Wang)
