Confucius Institute in Auckland
Advisory Board Meeting Minutes
Pembridge House
Friday 17 May 2019, 14:30
Present:
Prof. Jenny Dixon (Chair), Prof. Helen Nicholson, Pat English, Danny Chan,
Prof. Paul Clark, Prof. Zhimin Chen (Fudan), Prof. Wen Chen (Fudan), Prof. Zhongwei
Wu (Fudan)
In attendance:
Education Consul Mr Yanguang Li on behalf of Wansheng Liu,
Nora Yao, Bing
Zhou, Janine Chin, Anne du Plessis (minutes), Lin Li (Fudan), Chris Hamilton
(Otago)
Apologies:
Peter Chin, Wansheng Liu
1. Welcome
• Chairperson Prof. Jenny Dixon welcomed the Board members to the meeting held at Confucius
Institute Office, Pembridge House.
• All attendees introduced themselves and Jenny welcomed Chris Hamilton, new staff member at
Otago University
2. Minutes from previous meeting, 7 September 2018
Correction: No Corrections
Approval of minutes: Moved Prof. Dixon, seconded Pat English.
Matters Arising
No matters arising.
3. Sub-Board Meeting on 15th April 2019 - presented by Prof. Jenny Dixon
Prof. Dixon explained the purpose of the sub-board meeting with local members was to talk about
local issues:
• Prof Dixon advised of increased interest in the CI from the media and several requests lodged
under the “Official Information Act” for information.
• It was decided to update the CI website and provide more information about CI activities.
• Oceania CI Conference wil be held at Victoria University early July.
4. Financial Report – presented by Janine Chin
Period: 01/01/2018 – 31/12/2018
1357 Hanban Funds
Confucius Institute Board Minutes
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1358 UoA Funds
Additional Funding
Period: 01/01/2019 – 31/03/2019
1357 Hanban Funds
1358 UoA Funds
Additional Funding
Discussion raised:
• It was noted that CI should ideally receive funding from Hanban earlier.
• Fudan would like to convey this message to Hanban.
• Prof Bing Zhou commented that the 2019 budget was submitted in March and hopeful that CI
will receive payment soon.
• CI occupancy cost was lower than usual in 2018 due to move to Pembridge House, no rental
charged for the first few months of occupancy. Cost wil normalize in 2019.
• Still waiting for the final finance report on Pembridge House renovations.
Acceptance of financial report: Moved Prof. Dixon. Seconded Danny Chan
5. Confucius Institute Report – presented by Nora Yao
Review of activities from September 2018 – April 2019
Highlights:
• More sponsorship/ partnerships have been established e.g. Lantern Festival and NZCTA. New
partners are joining CI regular programs eg school trip, competitions.
• Revenue has been increased through sponsorships, courses and sponsored events.
• Fewer students applied from China for the MLA program. Nora explained that we have
extended MLA invitation to more universities to attract a bigger selection pool. While in
China Nora visited other Universities to promote the program to students.
• Prof. Chen will explore ways to attract more students from Fudan University to apply for MLA
program
• Changed the “Principal delegation” to “Educators delegation” in order to open up the
possibility for deputies and board members to participate in the program.
• Received permission from Hanban to establish another Confucius Classroom outside of
Auckland, possibly the Waikato region
• Janine visited China to do pre-departure training with MLA’s
• Prof. Dixon noted that the training offered to local police is a good example of CI outreach to
the wider community.
Acceptance of report: moved Prof. Dixon. Seconded Pat English.
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6. Otago Office – presented by Chris Hamilton
• Aim: Developing Chinese language and cultural activities and events for staff and students
o Calligraphy and Taichi classes offered
o Connection with the local Chinese community to do performances on campus in order to
engage with students and staff
o Supported the Chinese railways arts and culture performance who visited in February 2019.
Publicity for this event was widely circulated in Dunedin, attendees thoroughly enjoyed it.
• Prof Dixon noted that a sum of $10 000 is allocated for Otago activities and, if need be, the amount
could be increased.
• Mr Pat English suggested that a board meeting be held in Otago in conjunction with activities e.g.,
such as Dunedin Shanghai sister city links.
• North Asia CAPE and CI in discussions around supporting a China trip for NZ high school learners.
• MOU with CU was signed the year CI Otago branch was launched and has now lapsed. The lack of
MLA presence in high schools was noted.
Acceptance of report: moved Prof. Dixon. Seconded Mr. Pat English.
7. Other Business
• Mr. Danny Chan reiterated his concern, as in the previous meeting, that the amount of work and
projects the CI in Auckland is involved with is very significant. CI may not have enough resources to
cope with the workload.
• Prof Dixon suggested that CI broaden its outreach to community groups, subject to resources.
• A meeting wil be arranged between University of Auckland and Fudan delegation for the
conference in June.
8. Next board meeting
• Proposed Board meeting in October / November 2019 in Dunedin - date to be confirmed and
documents will be circulated by email.
The meeting concluded at 15:45pm.
Minutes submitted by: Anne du Plessis
Approved by:
Chair: Professor Jenny Dixon
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Document Outline
