December - 13 The Second Council Meeting of the Confucius Institute at Ural State University took place at GDUFS on December 8th. Vladimir Kruzhaev, Vice President of Ural State University, Director of Council of Confucius Institute, and  Adim A. Kuz' min, Dean of Oriental Culture and member of Council of Confucius Institute attended the meeting. They were warmly received by Fang Ganquan, Vice President of GDUFS and Vice Director of Council of Confucius Institute at Ural State University and Jiao Fangtai, Vice Commissioner of International Office. Together, they discussed further cooperation between the two universities.

At the beginning of the meeting, Mr. Fang expressed his appreciation of his guests from Russia and briefly introduced the current situation at GDUFS. After that, Mr. Vladimir Kruzhaev outlined the current status of Ural State University, focusing specifically on the Confucius Institute. He reported that in 2009, the Confucius Institute was a success and he is looking forward to further cooperation. Later, they exchanged presents.

Later in the council meeting, Mr. Sergey Smirnov introduced the workings of the Confucius Institute at Ural State University and talked about the Chinese teaching project, which started in February 2009. Currently, it has 54 students and 3 teachers (two of whom are from GDUFS).  Apart from classroom teaching, there have been various activities organized by the Confucius Institute, such as a Chinese Movies Club, Chinese Knowledge Competition and Russia-China Academic Seminar. Also, students from Ural State University participated in the summer camp in GDUFS in July 2009. In October, a student delegation from GDUFS led by Professor Li Yukun of College of Art visited Ural State University. Mr. Sergey Smirnov said that this year' informational film featuring the two sister cities:  Jekaterinburg and Guangzhou, is now in postproduction, and the final version will be sent to GDUFS soon.

Next year is the Year of Chinese Language in Russia. Mr. Sergey Smirnov said they would hold more activities and hoped GDUFS could offer help in resources of Chinese culture. He also expressed his hope for further cooperation in student exchange between the two universities. In addition, Mr. Vadim Kuz'umin said that the two universities could collaborate in fields such as scientific research.

After the presentation by the Ural State University, Fang Ganquan complemented their efforts and expressed great appreciation towards Ural State University and the two Chinese teachers -- Zhang Yuping and Liu Yan on behalf of GDUFS.