Manchester welcomes President Xi
2 November 2015
The President of China Xi Jinping rounded off his five-day UK visit in Manchester, where the University of Manchester and the Confucius Institute formed part of his visit.
During his 5-day visit to Britain in October, President Xi Jinping and his wife made the unusual but welcoming visit to Manchester, where the University of Manchester and the Confucius Institute formed part of his visit. Professor Keith Brown, Chair of the Confucius Institute Board of Directors, together with the UK and Chinese Directors and three head teachers from our Confucius Classrooms went to London to attend the UK CI Conference, where President Xi spoke about the importance of promoting the understanding of the two nations through language and culture.
The University of Manchester welcomed President Xi to the National Graphene Institute on his last day of his UK-visit on 23 October. Professor Dame Nancy Rothwell greeted the President and the Chinese delegation with perfect Chinese ‘欢迎习主席光临曼大’, after a 15-minute Mandarin lesson with our teacher Miss Li Shuang. In addition, Karen Wang, Deputy Director of the Confucius Institute Manchester was part of the University’s organising team for the visit, advising on the cultural protocol and language. Professor Sir Kostya Novoselov presented his Chinese painting in graphene ink as his gift to President Xi and received a box of Four Treasures of Study from the President.