Asst. Prof. Ljiljana Stević on a Working Visit to China

Confucius Institute Home Director and Head of Sinology Study Programme at the Faculty of Philology of the University of Banja Luka Asst. Prof. Ljiljana Stević, PhD, was on a working visit to China from 19 to 28 May 2024.

During this visit, organized at the invitation of the Chinese Educational Association for International Exchange, Asst. Prof. Stević visited several higher education institutions as well as government departments for educational and cultural exchange.

At the meeting at Beijing University of Foreign Languages, Asst. Prof. Stević talked with Vice-Dean for International Cooperation of the Faculty of European Languages Prof. Dong Sixxiao about concrete forms of cooperation between the two universities in the field of comparative culture between China and the Republic of Srpska, as well as cooperation with the Centre for Serbian as a Foreign Language.

At the meeting with the Head of the Centre for the Serbian Language as a Foreign Language Prof. Yuchao Peng, she specifically discussed the improvement of the student exchange programme and the implementation of projects in the field of cultural exchange and academic cooperation. This would also include programmes for students, such as short-term study
programmes, master's and doctoral studies.

The possibility of having sinologists from Bosnia and Herzegovina participate in the second conference of sinologists of the Balkan region was also discussed, as well as cooperation in the field of training of sinologists and translators from BH, and their study stay in the world sinology centre in the city of Qingdao. In addition, it was agreed to establish cooperation in the field of publishing classical and contemporary Chinese books, thus promoting the translation and publication of Chinese literary classics in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Cooperation with Beijing University of Foreign Languages began with the visit of assistant professor at the Sinology Study Programme at the Faculty of Philology of the University of Banja Luka Bojna Pavlović, PhD, in July last year, after which the procedure for establishing the Centre for Sinology Studies at this faculty was initiated. During this visit, Asst. Prof. Stević
discussed the concrete steps of opening this centre in our country.

During her stay in China, she also visited the Beijing Institute of Technology, where sinology students of the Faculty of Philology of the University of Banja Luka were awarded five scholarships for a summer camp, where they will have the opportunity to improve their knowledge of the Chinese language, but also deepen their knowledge in the field of culture,
entrepreneurship and numerous other areas.

At the end of a several-day working visit to China, Asst. Prof. Stević took part in the Ninth Conference of Higher Education Institutions of China and the Countries of Central and Eastern Europe as the moderator of the panel discussion on digitization and technological innovations in scientific research, as well as the speaker in the panel on academic and cultural exchanges.

Finally, she visited the University of Engineering Studies in Shanghai, where she gave a lecture on cultural aspects of Chinese design and the Western perspective of it.

At the working meeting with the delegation of this University, led by Dean of the Faculty of Design Prof. Qu Shou, it was agreed to establish cooperation and academic exchange between the two universities, and they discussed the possibilities of joint master's studies and the stay of Chinese students at the University of Banja Luka for one semester.