The Confucius Institute In Sofia Have Organised the 8th Silk Road International Conference

The 8th Silk Road International Conference has been held at the Confucius Institute in Sofia – Bulgaria, from June 6th to June 7th 2025. The opening ceremony of the conference has been attended by both Mr Guan Xin – the Cultural Counsellor and Mr Yang Tian - the Head of the Department For Education at the Chinese Embassy in Bulgaria, Mr Angel Apostolov - Senior Specialist at the Department For International Cooperation at the Ministry of Education and Science, Prof. Reneta Bozhankova - vice-Rector of the Sofia University, Assoc. Prof. Petrana Stoykova - vice-Rector of the Southwest University, Prof. Gergana Petkova –the Dean of the Faculty of Classical and Modern Languages and Literature at the Sofia University, Prof. Nako Stefanov – the Honorary Director of the Confucius Institute in Sofia, Prof.Roumiana Preshlenova – the Director of the Institute of Balkan Studies With a Thracian Studies Center at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Mrs Snezhana Todorova – the President of the Bulgarian Journalists Association, Mrs Margarita Yanakieva – the Headmistress of the High-Technologies Vocational Secondary School in Sofia, Mr Yu Cheng – the representative of the Chinese Cultural Centre in Sofia, Mrs Gao Ge - the Director of the Research Institute for the Theory of Transformation and Integration at the Institute for Russian, Eastern European and Central Asian Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Mr Wang Jinwei - the Chinese director of the Confucius Institute in Barcelona, Spain, Mrs Gao Jing - the Chinese director of the Confucius Institute at the University of Nis in Serbia, Mrs Lou Xizhong - the Chinese director of the Confucius Institute at the University of Finance and Management in Prague, the Czech Republic, Mrs Aksiniya Koleva – the Bulgarian director of the CIS, and Prof. Chen Ying – the Chinese director of CIS, numerous representatives of the affiliated Confucius classrooms and teaching centers under CIS, as well as many experts and scholars. The attendees of the opening ceremony have amounted to more than one hundred persons.
Mr Guan Xin - the Cultural Counsellor of the Chinese Embassy in Bulgaria, has said in his speech that in order to truly understand China, it is necessary to deeply explore China’s long history and culture. He has also added that the sinologists and the Chinese language experts, in their capacity of being messengers of the dialogue between civilizations, do play an irreplaceable role in promoting cross-cultural communication. Prof. Reneta Bozhankova - the vice - Rector of the Sofia University, has pointed out that the current conference, being an influential academic event, has not only provided scholars from different countries with valuable communication opportunities, but has also opened up new space for academic cooperation. Mrs Aksiniya Koleva - the Bulgarian director of the Confucius Institute in Sofia, has reviewed the development process of the Silk Road International Conference over the past ten years, and has said that the conference does not only promote the in-depth integration of languages and cultures, but it is also a witness of the unique value of the Confucius Institute in Sofia in promoting the communication between the Chinese and the Bulgarian people.
The conference has been held in a hybrid mode – a combination of offline and online presentations, with a main venue and two additional sub-venues. Mrs Antonia Tsankova – an Assoc. Prof. from the Faculty Of Classical And Modern Languages and Literature in the Sofia University, has been the host of the main venue, and more than 40 experts and scholars from nearly 30 institutions from ten countries, including China, Bulgaria, Russia, Italy, Vietnam, Armenia and Georgia, have made their academic presentations and taken part in the academic discourse covering numerous fields such as language, education, literature, history, philosophy, diplomacy, economy, Chinese medicine, martial arts, etc., sharing their latest research results, as well as discussing and exchanging.
At the closing ceremony, Mrs Tanina Zappone - an Assoc. Prof. at the Faculty of Humanities of the University of Turin, Italy, Mrs Wang Ying - a teacher at the Confucius Institute in Sofia, and Mrs Antonia Habova - an Assoc. Prof. at the School of International Economics and Politics of the Bulgarian University For National And World Economy, have made their concluding speeches on the three sub-forums, namely: Language, Education And Literature; History, Philosophy And Culture; and Politics, Diplomacy And Economics, respectively.
Prof. Chen Ying - the Chinese Director of the Confucius Institute in Sofia, has pointed out in her closing speech that this year's conference has brought together experts and scholars in related fields from many countries, and the presentations have been rich and diversified. In her opinion, the success of the conference has been due to the strong support of the partner institutions, the experts and the scholars, as well as due to the hard work of the preparatory team. The Confucius Institute in Sofia will continue to carry forward the fine tradition of promoting exchanges and cooperation among academics from countries from the ‘Belt and Road’Initiative.
‘The Silk Road’ International Conference is a trade-mark project of the Confucius Institute in Sofia, which has been successfully held many times since 2011.The conference has played an important role in promoting the exchange and the mutual understanding between world civilisations.
The conference has been covered by the Xinhua Agency, the Economic Daily News, the Sohu News Agency, the Big News Network, the Africa News Agency and other media.

The Confucius Institute Sofia
Text: Chen Chen, Wang Yan
Photos: Biliana Isaeva, Zhang Qing
Editors: Prof. Chen Ying, Aksiniya Koleva
English translation: Maya Kostadinova

Picture 1. Mr Guan Xin - the Cultural Counsellor at the Chinese Embassy in Bulgaria delivering his speech.

Picture 2. Prof. Reneta Borankova - the vice-Rector of the Sofia University delivering her speech.

Picture 3. Mrs Aksiniya Koleva - the Bulgarian director of the Confucius Institute in Sofia delivering her speech.

Picture 4. Presentation by an academician in the main session

Picture 5. Discussion by participants in the main session

Picture 6. Presentation by an academician in the breakout session

Picture 7. Discussion by participants in the breakout session

Picture 8. The speech of Prof.Chen Ying - the Chinese director of the Confucius Institute in Sofia, at the closing ceremony.

Picture 9. A group photo of the participants in the conference.