China News Service, Lima, September 16th. On the 15th local time, the three-day Third Latin American Sinologists Conference was held in Lima, the capital of Peru. 120 experts and scholars from more than ten countries including Peru, Argentina, Chile, Brazil, Mexico, and Ecuador gathered together to discuss "From Dialogue to Integration—Institutionalization, Connectivity, and Shared Vision between Latin America and China."
Carlos Vázquez, Peruvian Ambassador to China, said in a video speech that sinological studies are an important bridge for perceiving Chinese culture and understanding contemporary China, and are also intellectual support for Latin American countries to deepen cooperation with China. It is expected that all parties participating in the meeting will use academics as a link to build consensus and deepen collaboration, continue to inject new momentum into the cause of Peru-China friendship, and help the construction of a community with a shared future between China and Latin America become deeper and more solid.
Valdo Mendoza, academic vice president of the Catholic University of Peru, said in his speech that this conference will focus on in-depth discussions on core topics such as the 55th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Peru and China and trans-Pacific connectivity, and will promote Latin American higher education cooperation with China from scattered experience exchanges to institutionalized, mutually beneficial long-term collaboration.
Camila Kian, Secretary-General of the Council of Latin American Sinologists, pointed out in her speech that the theme of “From Dialogue to Integration” means that the development of Latin American Sinology is moving towards a stable institutional structure, pragmatic cooperation agreements and sustainable collaborative development.
Xu Baofeng, Director of the World Sinology Center and Dean of the School of Sinology and Chinese Studies at Beijing Language and Culture University, delivered a speech and pointed out that Latin America has become one of the most important academic forces in the Global South. China-Latin America relations have provided rich experience samples and theoretical issues for South-South cooperation. Studying China-Latin America relations can help better understand the development direction of the Global South. “From dialogue to integration, it means that China-Latin America Sinology cooperation will move from the exchange ritual of ‘you speak and I listen’ to a new stage of knowledge production of ‘co-construction and sharing’.”
This conference has six major thematic discussion groups, focusing on the 55th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Peru, trans-Pacific connectivity, Chinese language teaching in Latin America, cross-cultural dialogue and exchanges, Sino-US strategic competition and geopolitics, legal framework and legal culture. The topics cover history, economy, culture, education, law, international relations and other fields.
A number of academic activities were held during the conference: a special session was set up to pay tribute to Humberto Rodríguez Pastor, a scholar who made foundational contributions to the study of the history of Chinese immigration in Peru; an offline academic cooperation roundtable was held to systematically summarize the annual progress of Latin American higher education's cooperation policies with China; and a new book release ceremony for the "Dictionary of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics" was held to launch the latest achievements in Chinese studies.
At the closing ceremony of the conference, a series of inter-agency cooperation agreements will be signed, the Peruvian Sinologists Council will be formally established, and the venue for the 4th Latin American Sinologists Conference will be announced.
On the evening of the 15th local time, Chinese Ambassador to Peru Song Yang held a special reception in Lima to entertain representatives of sinologists and guests from Chinese and Peruvian universities and academic institutions.
This conference is co-sponsored by Beijing Language and Culture University and the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru, and co-organized by the Center for World Sinology at Beijing Language and Culture University, the Center for Oriental Studies at the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru, and the Confucius Institute at the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru.
