Council Meeting
Professor Sandro Roberto Valentini
First of all, I would like to thank Madam Liu Yandong, vice-premier of the People's Republic of China, the leaders of the Confucius Institute Headquarters, especially Dr. Ma Jianfei, the Executive Deputy Director General of Hanban, and all the other members for the honorable invitation to be part of this prestigious council.
São Paulo State University - Unesp was the first Brazilian university to create a Confucius Institute in Brazil, which will celebrate ten years of operation in 2018. We have made all efforts to ensure the healthy development of the Confucius Institute at Unesp, considered one of the most important projects in our university, given the role it plays in promoting friendship and cooperation between our countries.
During these almost ten years of operation, the Confucius Institute at Unesp has already served more than 10,000 people, including Unesp students, students from other universities in the State of São Paulo, and community members of 12 out of 24 cities where Unesp is present. With the support of the Headquarters of the Confucius Institute, we have already had the opportunity to send almost 400 students to China to participate in academic exchange activities at Hubei University, our major partner in this important project. Many of these students not only have developed academic studies in partnership with Chinese universities, but also worked in Brazilian and Chinese companies and organizations in Brazil and China, as professionals in different areas, helping to consolidate a solid cooperation network between both countries.
As part of our university's internationalization project, we intend to further strengthen the Confucius Institute in our university, given its strategic role as a bridge between China and Brazil. As you probably know, the Brazilian government has recently launched the new Internationalization program called Capes-PrInt, which is supposed to replace the Science Without Borders program, and the deadline is April 18, 2018. In order to apply for funding, the higher education institutions must develop and propose a strategic internationalization plan and, of course, Chinese Universities will be included in our proposal. It must be recognized that when China and Brazil publish together, the joint publications have much higher impact. Actually, the average impact of the co-authored publications is increased four times. Through the Confucius Institute at Unesp, we are preparing a new generation of researchers and professionals who will certainly have an important role in the future of our bilateral relations, so that Brazil and China can work more effectively towards a more just and balanced society.
In order to build partnerships between the Confucius Institute and both private and public organizations, we have been working in close contact with companies, city halls, government bodies, museums and cultural organizations. One of our most important initiatives has been the organization of an Annual Chinese Companies Recruitment Fair. Between 2015 and 2017, the Chinese companies invested more than US$ 33 billions in Brazil in different areas such as automobile industries, equipment, high technology, banking, telecommunications, commerce, transportation and logistics. There is a great demand for Brazilian professionals who can speak Chinese and understand the Chinese culture. Since 2016, we have been working with Chinese companies to promote a Job fair, so we can open to our students new opportunities of employment and to the Chinese companies the opportunities to find qualified professionals that can understand the Chinese Language and Culture. In the last edition, this year, we had 19 companies participating that offered 120 posts. We received 500 candidates of whom, 103 were employed.
In terms of cultural exchange, we have worked in partnership with the city hall and the government of the State of São Paulo in order to organize large cultural events such as the São Paulo Chinese Movie Festival, and to offer the teaching of Chinese language and culture to students of public and private schools and government bodies. Also noteworthy is the great effort we have made to bring Chinese culture to the area of sport. We know that the Chinese football market is a new frontier that opens up to young talent from around the world and the number of Brazilian athletes playing in Chinese clubs is expressive. In that sense, we organized a summer camp at Hubei University with young players of Palmeiras, one of the top Brazilian soccer clubs and the Brazilian champion in 2016.
Finally, I would like to wish everyone a Happy 2018 and that next year we can continue to work together towards new achievements.
Thank you very much