Confucius Institute in Auckland
Advisory Board Meeting Minutes
Pembridge House
12 November 2019, 13:30
Present:
Prof. Jenny Dixon (Chair), Prof. Helen Nicholson, Mr. Danny Chan,
Prof. Paul Clark, Prof. Zhimin Chen (Fudan), Prof. Zhongwei Wu (Fudan), Prof Lian Lu
(Fudan), Mr. Peter Chin
In attendance:
Nora Yao, Bing Zhou, Janine Chin, Anne du Plessis (minutes), Lin Li (Fudan),
Chriss Hamilton (Otago)
Apologies:
Mr.
Pat English, Mr. 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 Prof. Dixon welcomed new board member Prof. Lu Lian
from Fudan University.
2. Minutes from previous meeting, 17 May 2019
Correction: No Corrections
Approval of minutes: Moved Prof. Dixon, seconded Danny Chan
Matters Arising
No matters arising.
3. Financial Reports – presented Janine Chin
Period: 01/01/2019 – 30/9/19
➢ 1357 Hanban Funds
o Revenue variance due to higher level of reimbursement for 2019 operating expenses.
o Variances in operating expenses due to timing of payments.
➢ 1358 UoA Funds
o Increase in occupancy due to payment of rent following completion of Pembridge House
upgrade. A better indication of ‘actual’ occupancy will be known next year.
➢ Funding Received from Hanban
o Balance of approved funding for 2019.
o Reimbursement for MLA national workshop in July.
o 50% MLA accommodation reimbursements for 2019. Remainder when final
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accommodation costs submitted following departure of MLAs at end of year.
➢ UoA Foundation Funds
o Includes funding received to date.
o No statement of activities available as systems being restructured.
Discussion raised:
• Wording of revenue variance will be amended to reflect increase in reimbursement vs
additional funding.
Acceptance of financial report: Moved Danny Chan, seconded Prof. Helen Nicholson
4. Confucius Institute Report - presented by Nora Yao
➢ Review of activities from May 2019 – Oct 2019
Highlighted programmes:
•
MLA National Workshop: Very successful. More than 140 MLAs attended from Auckland,
Wellington and Canterbury CIs. CI received very positive feedback on the event.
•
MLA Interviews in China: Total of 82 pre-approved (shortlisted) students from Hanban, CI
selected a total of 42 MLAs.
•
Confucius Classrooms: CI has
been monitoring Chinese programmes to ensure they meet
CC status requirements. Hanban has agreed and given permission to ‘withdraw’ CCs that do
not meet the criteria and replace them with schools that do. CI will continue to
monitor/assess programmes, provide guidance on improvements and consider new
applications. e.g., Waikato (Hillcrest High School and Fairfield College)
•
Chinese in Schools: Variety of activities especially during Chinese Language Week.
•
Language courses: CI managed and provided number various language courses without CCE
registration assistance. Prof. Paul Clark asked that student numbers be included in future
reports.
•
CI Website: Prof. Dixon said that sheand Nora are working to upgrade the website.
•
NZ Police Language and Culture course: Prof. Dixon was pleased to see that another police
course was scheduled for January 2020. She would like to see reference on the CI website.
Mr. Danny Chan recommended that we engage with Customs for future courses.
5. Otago Office Report - presented by Chriss Hamilton
➢ Review of activities 2019
Highlighted Activities:
•
Workshops: Partnered with local community, the Dunedin Cultural and Art Association to
trial the delivery of a series of workshops including:
o
Tai Chi: Through Juejun Lin (MLA), an expert was invited to demonstrate and give
staff/students the opportunity to experience Tai Chi.
o
Calligraphy: Also through Juejun, two sessions were offered within the Department
of Languages and Cultures.
• It is anticipated that additional workshops can be organized for 2020 due to success of trial.
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• Chriss reported they had a successful year and budget to be within $10,000.
• Chriss to submit proposed budget for 2020 including additional funding, if required, so it can
be taken into consideration.
• The Board is keen to support increased levels of activity.
6. MLA Visa Allocation
Prof. Dixon shared the good news that, following approaches to Government, the MLA visa allocation
had been raised from 150 to 300 through the renegotiation of the NZ-CHINA FTA upgrade. This
reflected a vote of confidence from the New Zealand Government in the Confucius Institutes. Prof.
Dixon particularly acknowledged the work of Tony Browne (VUW) who led the approach.
Prof. Dixon informed the Board that the 3 CIs will be meeting to discuss a way forward with regards
to the increased allocations. She mentioned that Hanban had indicated that they would cover the
costs of travel and allowance but not the accommodation for the MLAs over the 150 allocation.
The Board expressed their ‘delight’ in the outcome of the NZ-China FTA upgrade.
Moved Prof. Paul Clark, seconded Mr. Danny Chan
7. Any other business
• The VC signed a new 5-year agreement between Hanban and the University of Auckland with the
continuation of CI. She mentioned that a confidentiality clause was removed so the Agreement
can be placed on CI’s website. The only new point added: agreed to evaluate the work we do and
share the findings with Hanban.
• Prof. Chen informed the meeting that they are preparing for the CI global conference. .
• Prof. Chen informed the meeting of a possible visit from the Chancellor to New Zealand in early
Feb 2020. Prof. Dixon noted that she would be out of country at that time but the VC would
possibly be available.
• Mr. Danny Chan raised the issue that CI should seriously start looking for funding sponsors for
2020.
8. Next MEETING
• Proposed Board meeting 16 or 17 April in Otago - date to be confirmed and documents will be
circulated by email.
The meeting concluded at 14:25pm.
Minutes submitted by: Anne du Plessis
Approved by:
Chair: Professor Jenny Dixon
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