The 9th New Buds Salon (新芽沙龙) of the Institute of Area Studies, Peking University (PKUIAS), was held on October 22 at PKU. Prof. Natascha Gentz, founding director of the Confucius Institute for Scotland at the University of Edinburgh, gave a presentation on the theme “The Confucius Institute at the University of Edinburgh and in the United Kingdom.”

Prof. Gentz introduced the current situation of the Confucius Institute at the University of Edinburgh and in the UK and how Confucius Institutes are different from other cultural institutes such as the Goethe Institute, and explored the merits and shortcomings of Confucius Institutes as a special “global network.”

After her presentation, she exchanged ideas and engaged in in-depth discussion with more than 20 students who were in the audience about China–UK humanities exchanges and Chinese culture going abroad, among other topics.