UNWE Hosted the Chinese Culture Day

Evlogy and Hristo Georgievi Private Secondary School, the Embassy of the People's Republic of Chinа in Bulgaria, the Chinese Cultural Center in Sofia and Confucius Institute in Sofia visited the UNWE with the event Chinese Culture Day.

On the stage in Maxima Aula the children from Evlogy and Hristo Georgievi Private Secondary School performed a Christmas concert and the audience was also able to support the charitable cause of a child in need.

Mrs. Olga Yalamova, Director of Evlogy and Hristo Georgievi Private Secondary School, opened the solemn concert and expressed her gratitude to Prof. Dr. Dimitar Dimitrov for the warm hospitality that the University has provided as the host of the Christmas celebration and greeted him on the occasion of his re-election as the Rector of UNWE.

The energy and emotion in this hall are very powerful and impactful because the talent, hard work and ambition of our children has brought us together. Your presence gives us assurance that we become better, wiser and more purposeful each year for the success of our students. Traditionally, at the end of each year a review of the past year is taken and wishes are extended for the coming year. I am proud to say that over the past year we have been able to fulfill a long-time dream - our students to study in China, knowing the culture of the country whose language they study so hard. We plan to make this a tradition by enriching and increasing our network of contacts among universities in Beijing, Shanghai and Tianjin.

“In the new year 2024 let us succeed in implementing more initiatives and improving our results together with our partners in the difficult task of educating, training and encouraging our students, who are the future of Bulgaria! The bridge between Bulgaria and China is already a fact for our students, all that is needed is their hard work and wise planning", concluded Mrs. Yalamova.

In his welcoming speech the Rector Prof. Dr. Dimitar Dimitrov drew attention to the international activities of UNWE. He outlined the areas of work, including the Erasmus+ Programme and the Alliance of European Business Universities - ENGAGE.EU. He paid special attention to the dual programmes and good examples of such programmes with universities in China. "One of the newest is the Master's Degree Programme in International Business and Management taught in English. We have been cooperating with Shanghai University on it for several years. Another example is the Bachelor's Degree Programme in Economics jointly with the Tianjin Foreign Studies University”. He added that the Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of the People's Republic of China to Bulgaria H. E. Dong Xiaojun attended the opening of one of the newest dormitories where the students from China are already accommodated. The Center for the Management of the Dual Bachelor`s Degree Programme in Economics with the Tianjin Foreign Srudies University was also opened with his help. "Together with colleagues from several Chinese universities we also conduct research which has been organized by the National Fund for Scientific Research Fund. The lecturers from our university have a very good relationship and work in cooperation with their colleagues from Shanghai University. Recently a Bulgarian delegation had a visit and various issues related to this research were discussed. There are very good relations between the UNWE and our Chinese partners. As the great thinker and philosopher Confucius had said: 'It does not matter how slowly you go, as long as you do not stop'. We continue to develop these relations because they have great potential", added Prof. Dimitrov.

The event was also attended by the Chinese students from the Dual Bachelor's Degree Programme in Economics taught in English jointly with the Tianjin Foreign Studies University who were welcomed at the UNWE a few days ago, together with Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ivaylo Beev, Head of the Center for Programme Management.

Assoc. Prof. Beev and Mr. Yang Tian, Head of the Education Department at the Embassy of the People's Republic of China in Bulgaria /in the middle, from the left to the right/ with some of the Chinese students

The Rector Prof. Dimitar Dimitrov and Mr. Yang Tian

A charity Christmas bazaar with handmade items and toys was organized by the children from Evlogy and Hristo Georgievi Private Secondary School. The Chinese Embassy presented books on various subjects, the Chinese Cultural Centre showed the visitors the intricacies of Chinese painting, and Confucius Institute presented traditional Chinese calligraphy and painting, traditional musical instruments /dizi, lyuqing, xun, guqing, guzheng, etc./ and traditional Chinese games /a play with feather ball, chess, hoops/.