On the afternoon of 24 June 2025, a delegation headed by Professor CHEN Beifeng, Vice President from Zhongnan University of Economics and Law (ZUEL) visited the UCD Irish Institute for Chinese Studies (IICS), where the two sides held a working meeting focused on educational cooperation and academic exchange.
Professor Liming Wang, Director of the Institute, gave a brief overview of UCD’s globalisation model. As a research university with the highest proportion of international students (31%) in Ireland, UCD has established three joint colleges with Chinese universities including Beijing University of Technology, South China Agricultural University and Changan University. In the 2025 QS World University Rankings, UCD is ranked 118th globally.
Introducing the development of the UCD Confucius Institute and the IICS, Professor Wang noted that the UCD Irish Institute for Chinese Studies was established at the beginning of 2006, followed by the founding of the UCD Confucius Institute in partnership with Renmin University of China in September of the same year. As the first Confucius Institute established in Ireland (the other two being in Cork and Galway), the UCD Confucius Institute has dedicated nearly two decades to Chinese language education—starting with a Transition Year Unit in secondary schools and gradually expanding to the Short Course and Leaving Cert. Subject. In 2022, the first Leaving Cert. exam for Mandarin Chinese was held in Ireland.
The IICS is Ireland’s first academic institution dedicated to Chinese Studies, offering a comprehensive range of undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in Chinese language and culture. It collaborates with UCD’s Schools of Business, Law, Social Sciences, and Agriculture and Food Science to deliver interdisciplinary undergraduate degrees including BComm with Chinese Studies, Law with Chinese Studies, Social Sciences with Chinese, and Food Business with Chinese. In 2014 and 2016, the Institute introduced diploma and master’s degree programmes in Teaching Chinese Language and Culture, aimed at training teachers in preparation for the inclusion of Chinese in the Irish Leaving Certificate curriculum. In 2025, the Institute launched a new summer school programme, jointly developed with the UCD School of Education and the Centre for English and Global Languages. This programme features cutting-edge topics such as second language acquisition and artificial intelligence, providing participants with an interdisciplinary and globally oriented learning experience.
During the meeting, Professor Wang also provided a historical perspective on Ireland’s development trajectory. He highlighted the country’s transformation from an agricultural society into the "Silicon Valley of Europe," driven by sustained investment in education and the adoption of a low corporate tax rate to attract foreign direct investment.
Both sides engaged in in-depth discussions on topics such as differences in legal education between China and Ireland, as well as potential cooperation in the digital economy. By the end of meeting, both parties agreed that this visit had laid a solid foundation to further deepening collaboration between the two institutions in the areas of talent cultivation and research innovation.
中南财经政法大学代表团访问都柏林大学中国研究院
2025年6月24日下午，中南财经政法大学副校长陈柏峰教授一行访问了都柏林大学爱尔兰中国研究院，双方就教育合作与学术交流举行了工作会谈。
研究院院长王黎明教授简要介绍了UCD的国际化办学特色：作为爱尔兰留学生比例最高的研究型大学（国际生占比31%），已与北京工业大学、华南农业大学、长安大学等中国高校建立3个联合学院。在2025年QS世界大学排名中位列第118位。
王院长也对都柏林大学中国研究院和孔院的发展做了系统介绍：2006年初UCD爱尔兰中国研究院成立，同年9月与中国人民大学共建了孔子学院。作为爱尔兰的第一家孔院（另两家位于科克、高威），UCD孔院深耕中文教育近20年，从开设中学过度年兴趣课程起步，逐步拓展至初中和高中课程，并于2022年成为爱尔兰高考科目。
都柏林大学爱尔兰中国研究院是爱尔兰第一个专注中国学的研究机构，拥有专业的师资团队，提供中国语言和文化相关的各类本科和研究生学位课程，与都柏林大学的商学院、法学院、社会科学学部、农学与食品学院合作分别开设了商学与中国学、法学与中国学、社会科学与中文、食品商务与中文的本科专业。研究 院于 2014及2016年分别创办国际中文教育专业文凭和硕士学位项目，为中文进入爱尔兰高考大纲培养合格的师资队伍。中国研究院于今年推出暑期研学项目。该项目由都柏林大学教育学院、英语及国际语言中心联合打造，课程涵盖二语习得、人工智能等前沿领域，旨在为参与者提供跨学科的国际化学习体验。
会谈中，王院长从历史角度解读爱尔兰发展经验：该国通过持续的教育投入和低企业税率政策，吸引外资，实现了从农业国到"欧洲硅谷"的转型。期间，双方还就中、爱法学教育差异、数字经济合作等议题进行了深入探讨。
最后，双方表示，将以此次访问为契机，进一步深化双方在人才培养、科研创新等领域的合作。