The opening ceremony of the Second Confucius and Mencius Cultural Festival for international Students was unveiled on Jan 16 in the Shandong city of Jining, the hometown of two renowned ancient Chinese philosophers Confucius and Mencius.

Jointly organized by the Traditional Cultural Education and Inheritance Research Committee of Shandong Higher Vocational College and the Shandong Polytechnic College (SDPC), more than 500 distinguished guests including representatives of domestic education institutions, local government officials, heads of universities from Belt and Road countries and international students studying at the SDPC participated in the event.

The Second Confucius and Mencius Cultural Festival for International Students commences on Jan 16 in Jining, Shandong province. [Photo/sdchina.com]

During the ceremony, SDPC signed agreements with 14 overseas colleges in respect of cooperation in running schools and faculty training.

After the signing ceremony, faculty and students of the SDPC staged splendid artistic performances.

"In order to promote excellent Chinese traditional culture as well as speed up the college's internationalization of higher education, we launched the First Confucius and Mencius Cultural Festival for International Students in 2016, which received favorable responses from international students as well as foreign schools," said Xu Ke, top official of SDPC.

Xu Ke, top official of the Shandong Polytechnic College, gives a welcome address at the opening ceremony of the Second Confucius and Mencius Cultural Festival for international Students on Jan 16 in Jining, Shandong province. [Photo/sdchina.com]

"This year, the festival was designed in a larger scale held to provide a broader platform for international cultural exchanges advocated by the Belt and Road Initiative."

Under the theme of "Promote the Belt and Road Initiative via exchange and common prosperity of culture", the four-day festival consisted of a series of activities such as symposiums on vocational education, training courses of Chinese traditional culture, and recreational tours to the hometown of Confucius and Mencius, aiming to help foreign students and guests to better understand the traditional Chinese culture, as well as boost exchanges and cooperation in vocational education.

The Shandong Polytechnic College signs agreements with 14 colleges from Belt and Road countries in respect of cooperation in running schools and faculty training on Jan 16 in Jining, Shandong province. [Photo/sdchina.com]

In recent years, SDPC has made great efforts to expand international cooperation and has established cooperative relations with 51 overseas colleges and research institutions.

Faculty and students of the Shandong Polytechnic College stage splendid artistic performances at the opening ceremony of the Second Confucius and Mencius Cultural Festival for international Students on Jan 16 in Jining, Shandong province. [Photo/sdchina.com]