Bulgarian Vice-President Iliana Iotova and her delegation visited Beijing Foreign Studies University (BFSU) on Oct 15 and held talks with Jia Wenjian, the BFSU president and deputy secretary of the CPC BFSU Committee.

Bulgarian Vice-President Iliana Iotova visits BFSU. [Photo/bfsu.edu.cn]

During the meeting, Jia presented the basic scenarios of international exchanges and talent cultivation at BFSU, along with the latest achievements in multidisciplinary integration and development. He stated that BFSU places great importance on the development of its Bulgarian language program and related disciplines, and the university is willing to leverage its language advantages to actively promote exchanges and interactions among young scholars from China and Bulgaria.

Iotova emphasized the importance of the development of the humanities and expressed her hope for more exchanges and interactions between students and scholars from the two countries in the future. She stated that the Bulgarian government is willing to work with BFSU to strengthen the friendship between the nations through educational cooperation.

After the meeting, Iotova delivered a speech to over 200 faculty members and students of BFSU .

On behalf of the faculty and students of BFSU, Jia delivered a welcome speech. He stated that the university places great importance on Sino-Bulgarian cultural exchanges. Since establishing China's first Bulgarian language program in 1951, the university has achieved significant results in Bulgarian language teaching, cultural research, and promotion, becoming an important platform for exchanges and cooperation between young scholars from both countries. He expressed hope that Iotova's visit would serve as an opportunity to further deepen BFSU's cooperation with various sectors in Bulgaria.

In her speech, Iotova highlighted the 76-year history of friendly exchanges between Bulgaria and China. She emphasized that both countries have long and rich historical cultures, and mutual understanding is the key to comprehension and cooperation. She praised BFSU's achievements in talent cultivation and acknowledged its significant contributions to cultural exchange and mutual understanding between the people of the two countries. She expressed hope that the two governments and universities could engage in higher-level and more in-depth academic cooperation based on extensive student exchanges.

Iotova engaged in an interactive session with BFSU's faculty and students. [Photo/bfsu.edu.cn]

Following her speech, Iotova engaged in a question-and-answer session with the faculty and students of BFSU, addressing topics such as global economic and trade cooperation, cross-cultural exchanges, and the development of sports.

Iotova awards Ma Xipu the first class Order of Saints Cyril and Methodius of the Republic of Bulgaria. [Photo/bfsu.edu.cn]

During the visit, Iotova also awarded Ma Xipu, a distinguished research fellow at the Bulgarian Studies Center of BFSU, the first class Order of Saints Cyril and Methodius of the Republic of Bulgaria. This honor recognized Ma's outstanding contributions to promoting the dissemination of Bulgarian history and culture in China.