On the morning of November 22th, the 4th international culture festival was officially inaugurated in Xuhui campus of East China University of Science and Technology. The theme of the festival is “Chinese Dream, World Harmony”, which more than 200 international students from 44 countries prepared and displayed the exhibition, and nearly 1,000 Chinese and foreign teachers and students participated in the opening ceremony of the festival and related activities. Song Lai, Deputy Secretary of the University Party Committee, attended the opening ceremony and delivered a speech. Ni Wei, Minister of the Ministry of Education, Hou Yu, Secretary of the Youth League Committee, Bao Hua, vice President of the College of International Education, and Li Xiaopeng, Deputy Director of the Department of International Exchange Office, all attended the opening ceremony.

Photo: Song lai, Deputy Secretary of the University Party Committee, delivering the opening speech

In his speech, Song Lai congratulated on the holding of the International Cultural Festival, thanked all the international students and teachers who organized and prepared this grand activity, and welcomed all the Chinese and foreign teachers and students who participated in the activities of the International Cultural Festival. Moreover, he pointed out that our school has made great breakthroughs and progress in the internationalization of education by speeding up the construction of “double first-class” and promoting the opening up of school education. It has established the world’s first science and technology innovation Confucius Institute in cooperation with University of Huddersfield in the United Kingdom and the International Institute of Outstanding Engineers in cooperation with the French School of Chemical Engineers Alliance Gai Lussac. At the same time, the number of international students in schools is growing rapidly. By the end of November this year, the number of international students in our school has reached 1631 from 116 countries, including 551 students with international academic qualifications, a record number. Song Lai said that the school attached great importance to the construction of multi-culture on campus and held the International Cultural Festival every year, so as  to build a platform for cultural exchanges between China and foreign countries. On the 70th anniversary of the founding of New China, the school contributed to “Chinese Dream, World Harmony”.

On behalf of the international students, Su Lei, a doctoral student in the College of Bioengineering of ECUST from Niger, made a speech, congratulating the holding of the International Cultural Festival and expressing his gratitude to the school and all the students and teachers who helped him. He said movingly, when he first arrived in China he met a lot of difficulties in life and study. It was the teachers and Chinese students in the school who gave great care and help to get through the difficulties and made great progress in study. Today, he has been in China for nearly 10 years. He has long been a "China hand" and an "old Ecuster". He has assumed more responsibility for serving other students, made many Chinese friends, and also felt the enthusiasm and friendship of the Chinese people. He sincerely hopes that China will develop better and better, and that more international students will come to study in ECUST.

Photo: International student representative Su Lei speaking

Bao Hua announced the opening of the International Cultural Festival, accompanied by fireworks, then here came the prolonged applause.

Students from Turkmenistan, Pakistan, North Korea and China presented wonderful performances which brought together the folk customs and cultural charm of various countries and won the unanimous praise of the teachers and students.

Photo: Chinese students in Han Chinese costume singing and dancing

Photo: Korean students’ traditional folk songs

Photo: Turkmen students’ traditional songs and dances

Song Lai talked with some international students in the exhibition booth, listened to their introduction, expressed to them the importance and concern for the training of international students studying, and took photos with representatives of students from all participating countries.

Photo: guests present and representatives of participating students taking a group photo to mark the occasion

As a vital platform for building international cultural exchanges in ECUST, International Cultural Festival has gradually become a series of brand activities for teachers and students from home and abroad to enjoy the world's customs and cultural feast. It is an important form to promote the multi-cultural integration on campus. It is also a key manifestation of our school's focus on 2019 to improve the quality and scale of international student training and to continuously cultivate high-level international talents who "know China and affect China" in the new era.