The Confucius Institute in Sofia, established in June 2006 and officially put into operation in June 2007, was the earliest Confucius Institute in Bulgaria and even in Balkans. It was founded as a partnership project between Beijing Foreign Studies University (BFSU) and Sofia University (SU).

In December 2013, the Confucius Institute Headquarters signed an agreement with Sofia University, according to which the Confucius Institute in Sofia became one of the first 14 Model Confucius Institutes throughout the world, and officially entered the structure of Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”.

Over the 7 years since its establishment, Confucius Institute in Sofia has always been dedicated to improving its Chinese language-teaching standard and scientific research capacity, enhancing its cooperation with other local educational institutes and government departments, promoting educational and cultural exchange, enhancing collaboration between Bulgaria and China, and thus contributing to Bulgarians’ better understanding of Chinese tradition and the modern China.

The Board of Directors is the top administrative body of the Confucius Institute. It is in charge of the confirmation of the Institute’s development plans, the employment and dismissal of the directors of the Confucius Institute, the formulation of basic norms and regulations in managing the Institute, as well as the examination and approval of annual budget and final accounts. The Board of Directors is composed of seven people recommended by the two universities, four by SU and three by BFSU. The Head of the Board of Directors is Prof. Ivan Iltchev, Rector of SU; the Vice Head of the Board is Prof. Yan Guohua, Vice President of BSFU. Other members of the Board of Directors include Prof. Anastas Gerdjikov, Vice Rector of SU; Prof. Tzvetan Teofanov, Dean of SU’s Faculty of Classical and Modern Philology; Prof. Aleksandar Fedotov, Head of Centre for Eastern Languages and Studies; Prof. Zhang Xiaohui, Director of BFSU’s Confucius Institute Affairs Office; Assoc. Prof. Chen Ying, Vice Dean of BFSU’s School of European Languages and Cultures. Resolution of the Board of Directors can be passed only when a majority of three-fifths members support it.

To manage daily tasks, the Confucius Institute in Sofia adopts a responsibility assignment system to manage projects, led by directors of both sides. On the basis of an overall program and the budget, the plan for implementing a particular project will be drawn up by a plenary session, and then the project will be carried out by a specific group of people, and the project leader is responsible to the Chinese and the foreign directors.

The Model Confucius Institute in Sofia has always been working on enacting concrete Chinese-teaching program. Teaching activities are focused on offering courses within the Institute and setting up teaching centers in universities and high schools nationwide. Courses include Chinese language training courses of basic level, intermediate level and advanced level, distant courses on Great Wall Chinese, Chinese courses for children, training classes for local teachers, courses for HSK, etc. Besides, there are courses like business Chinese and tourism Chinese for people in particular needs.

In the year of 2004, new progress has been made in Chinese language teaching and promoting. The number of teaching centers has increased from 10 to 13 with 1,823 people enrolling in Chinese training courses. The Confucius Institute and its teaching centers have held various kinds of cultural activities, whose number reached 32 in 2014, including 19 lectures and 11 seminars, covering about 21,900 people. There were 10 people having won a scholarship, and 129 having taken the HSK. An inspection team, consisting of directors and teachers of Confucius Institute and presidents of teaching centers, has supervised and instructed each teaching center, and conducted the first session of teachers’ training course for HSK. In addition, the regularly-published journal Confucius Institute in Sofia has provided the readers with a platform of scientific research, teaching practice and cultural exchange related to Chinese language and culture.

Since the Confucius Institute in Sofia is one of the first 14 Model Confucius Institutes throughout the world, the National Office for Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language (NOCFL) has reached an agreement with Sofia University on improving teaching facilities and seeking to broaden the institute’s area. SU is to provide an area of about 2,000 square meters for Confucius Institute. After putting the new site into use, the Institute’s capacity of carrying out regular activities, teaching tasks and cultural projects will be profoundly enhanced, creating conditions for launching large-scale national and international activities.

The Model Confucius Institute in Sofia has worked out a plan for future development, which attaches more importance to integrating with the university as well as social cultural organizations. It is planed that there will be a “Confucius Institute’ Academic Conference Week” in October every year, aiming to strengthen the effort of holding cultural and academic exchange activities.

Currently, there are four Confucius Classrooms under the Institute. To give the Confucius Institute full play in leading the promotion of Chinese language, we should enhance the supervision and instruction on Confucius Classrooms.

Henceforth, when conducting cultural projects, we will carry out investigations and researches on the basis of past experiences, select the theme according to social interests on Chinese culture, and hold regular shows of Chinese film and television works. Through the works, Bulgarian audiences are exposed to Chinese culture as well as the movie-television culture, and people who are interested in Chinese language could have more access to it. By doing so we are to introduce China and Chinese culture more comprehensively to Bulgarian people.

The library of Model Confucius Institute in Sofia owns a collection of nearly 10,000 books and over 2,000 pieces of audio-visual materials. Our goal is to build this library into the largest and best Chinese library and information center in Bulgaria. To achieve it, we are supposed to increase our collection of books, include more books of different themes and genres, and raise the proportion of books in other languages (mainly in English and Bulgarian). In addition to receiving English books from NOCFL as we used to, we can also purchase Bulgarian books about China in Bulgaria, for the convenience of more people, especially those who don’t understand Chinese, to refer to information.

Besides, we plan to build the Confucius Institute in Sofia into a transfer center of Chinese books in the region of Sofia and even Bulgaria. We will make contact with Chinese book-trading organizations or publishers and sell Chinese books through the Institute and its website.

The Model Confucius Institute in Sofia has founded a journal aiming at promoting Chinese language and the learning of it. We promise to publish two issues every year and develop pragmatic Chinese textbooks satisfying realistic needs, supporting fundamental research programs of China. Various academic projects related to Chinese language, Chinese teaching and Chinese culture will be held.

Through the establishment of the model institute, its textbooks’ quality, teaching methods and space for regular work and teaching activities will be greatly advanced, benefiting the conduction of large-scale national and international activities as well as the extension of cultural functions of Confucius Institute. This institute will also play its leading and influential role in areas like teacher training, Sinology researching, special teaching on traditional Chinese Medicine and calligraphy, and vocational and technical training.

Moreover, the NOCFL is now carrying forward a “New Sinology Plan” in order to nurture a group of high-level young Sinologists and specialists on Chinese historic, political, philosophical and economic issues. This plan primarily concerns humanities and social sciences. It involves six kinds of programs, namely Sino-foreign cooperative education of Ph. D, proceeding to the doctor’s degree in China, visiting scholars of “Understanding China”, young academic leaders, international conferences and funds for publishing for the purpose of intensifying the internationalization of Chinese language education. In the future, the Model Confucius Institute in Sofia will work hard to achieve this goal.

Under the leadership of NOCFL and the direct instruction of Sofia University and Beijing Foreign Studies University, the Model Confucius Institute in Sofia is to develop into a modern center for language and cultural exchange between China and Bulgaria, a bridge that influences cultural exchange between China and Bulgaria and between China and the world.

Address: 79，Todor Alexandrov Blvd.1303 Sofia, Bulgaria

Contact: Bulgaria Director Antonia Tsankova; Chinese Director Ge Zhiqiang

Email: cis@dir.bg

Website: www.confuciusinstitute.bg

Tel: +359-2-822-30-19

Fax: +359-2-822-30-19

(As of December 31^st, 2104)