Professor Peng Yi, newly appointed Chinese Co-director from Nanjing Tech University assumed her duties on Thursday, 1 February 2018, at the University of Johannesburg Confucius Institute (UJCI).
A native of Jingzhou City, Hubei Province, Prof Peng succeeds Prof Yin Fulin, who is also a Professor and former Dean in Nanjing Tech University (NTU). Prof Peng has a background in law and served in various capacities, including lecturing and researching in conflict of laws between Hong Kong and the mainland People’s Republic of China, as well as involved with civil procedure law.
Prof Peng’s term is set to last until early 2020, and she expressed that she is looking forward to working with the UJ stakeholders to advance the UJCI and the university in general. Prof Peng will be working closely with Dr David Monyae her South African counterpart.
The UJCI, which formally began operation in 2016, is mandated to teach Mandarin to all staff, students and members of the community interested in learning it, as well as facilitating scholarships and opportunities to travel to China for interested individuals.
The institute also periodically carries out festivals to mark important Chinese holidays. This is in line with its promotion of Chinese language and culture, a mandate carried out by all Confucius Institutes in the country, of which only four exists, and UJCI is the youngest. The UJCI also hosts research seminars and public dialogues on political and economic matters to do with Africa-China relations as well as BRICS.
The flagship institute has recently launched two knowledge products; the UJCI Africa-China Occasional Paper Series and Policy Brief Series to be found here.
