Symposium Site

(Reported by Fu Wen, XRTU Journal)

On April 9, 2019, The 2019 Symposium for Silk Road Economic Belt Programs was held by the Higher Education and Adult Education Office of Education Department of Xi’an Municipal Government. Three staff of Hantang Culture Online Academy of Xi’an, namely, Song Feng, Mu Yu, and Fu Qiuhui, attended the Symposium.

Pan Jianhong, director of the Higher Education and Adult Education Office of Education Department of Xi’an Municipal Government, introduced three main aspects for the 2019 Symposium: 1) Accelerate the progress of the “Silk Road” related programs. 2) Report the achievements in 2018 and share working experience. 3) Outline basic working schedule in 2019. Representatives from 5 instituttions, including Xi’an University and Xi’an Railway Vocational and Technical College, reported their works in the past year. Song Feng, director of the Department of Language, Literature, and Law, on behalf of Hantang Culture Online Academy of Xi’an, presented achievements and highlights of the Academy in 2018.

With substantial support from the Education Department of Xi’an Municipal Government as well as the XRTU Board Committee, Hantang Culture Online Academy of Xi’an followed the requirements of the Education Department, used the funds within its budget, and was developing according to its plan. Main achievements include: 1) Investigation and survey on teaching. 2) Application, preparation and opening of Xi’an Branch of The Open University of China - Huaqiao College. 3) Optimization of the first Chinese learning platform in Northwest China - Hantang Online Chinese Learning Platform. 4) Establishment of micro-courses and lectures on different topics with local characteristics. 5) Introduction of authoritative HSK mock exam resources. 6) Organization of 3 offline routes for culture study tour (210 students from 25 countries had participated). 7) Compilation of a book: Handbook for Study in Xi’an. The publicity of traditional and contemporary charm of Xi’an was stressed in all works. The Academy also developed closer exchange and cooperation with Xi’an International Trade & Logistics Park and School of International Education of Northwest University. Its online-offline teaching mode received favor from students and praise from leaders of superior organizations.

Officials of the Education Department of Xi’an Municipal Government affirmed the Academy’s efforts and expressed their expectation about further development and publicity of the Hantang Online Chinese Learning Platform. They said that they hope the Platform would serve as a channel to spread Chinese culture and tell Xi’an stories to countries along the “Belt and Road”, and to create a better environment for political and economic development of Xi’an.

The symposium offered the Hantang Culture Online Academy of Xi’an an opportunity to learn more about the activities held by different institutions under the “Belt and Road” initiative. Hopefully, the Academy and other institutions would seek more cooperation based on mutual interests and to make joint efforts to promote the development of Xi’an.