Chinese coming to Corfu
Το εμβληματικό κτήριο όπου το Ιόνιο πανεπιστήμιο θα στεγάσει το Κέντρο Σινολογίας κ.α. παρεμφερείς δραστηριότητές του.
CORFU. A Sinology Centre and postgraduate programmes are being inaugurated, with the Chinese ambassador in Athens also present. Prior to this, a meeting of Greek island universities will take place regarding student housing.
The Ionian University will be at its peak in February. On the 4th and 5th of the month, it will host a meeting of the island universities of Crete, the Aegean, and the Ionian, with the primary focus being the resolution of student housing issues.
Ten days later, a large Chinese delegation is expected to arrive in response to the recent collaboration and hospitality extended to the Corfu delegation during their visit to China. During the Chinese delegation's presence in Corfu, a branch of the Sinology Centre will be inaugurated in the building that formerly housed the Bank of Greece (Photo). Additionally, the launch of two postgraduate programmes and a doctoral programme, agreed upon during the recent visit of Dean Andreas Floros and his delegation (Vlachopoulos, Katsios), will be announced.
These include three joint postgraduate programmes, a joint lifelong learning programme, and Greece’s first joint doctoral programme for university students. As part of the visit and related events, the Chinese ambassador in Athens, Fang Qiu, along with professors and other Chinese officials, will also be present in Corfu.
According to the Dean of the Ionian University, the Chinese side has expressed interest in constructing a hall of residence to host postgraduate students in the programme, which is expected to enroll 60 students annually, as well as a lecture hall for postgraduate studies. It is believed that a combined effort to build a student hall of residence for the Ionian University and the Chinese programmes could definitively resolve the ongoing accommodation issue. An exchange of land between the central municipality (in Kynopiastes) and the university (in Pallada) is pending. This would allow for the construction of the first hall of residence and for the relocation of the art departments, enabling the establishment of a student residence.
According to the same sources, the Chinese side is satisfied with its collaboration with the Ionian University and its future prospects. This was also expressed during the recent meeting in China and highlighted as a special honour by Greece's ambassador to Beijing, E. Kalpyris, who characterised the favourable comments as exceptional in the diplomatic history of such exchanges.
GIORGOS KATSAITIS
