Confucius Institute
Contact Details

Liren Benjamin Zeng
Director
lzeng@uwc.ac.za


Iris Wu
Director
confucius@uwc.ac.za

Confucius Institute


The Confucius Institute is an educational non-profit organisation under the auspices of the Ministry of Education of China.

The Confucius Institute (CI) Program at the University of the Western Cape (UWC) promotes mutual understanding between South Africa and China through educational, cultural, and people-to-people exchanges. The Confucius Institute and its host universities create platforms for communities across the country to engage in language and cultural exposure. Confucius Institute also highlights the importance of global education and initiates the establishment of lifelong communities for students and participants worldwide.  Confucius Institute is an international cooperation program under the International Relations Office of UWC. The Agreement was signed by the UWC, Zhejiang Normal University and Zhejiang Chinese Medical University and was officially launched in 2019.  

Our Vision:  is to be a bridge to continue the friendship, respect and cooperation between China and South Africa.

Our Mission: is to promote and teach Chinese culture and language around the world. CIs develop Chinese language courses, train teachers, hold the HSK Examination (Chinese proficiency test), host cultural and artistic presentations, and provide information about contemporary China.

Trilateral Partnership


The Confucius Institute for Chinese Medicine is a collaboration between the University of the Western Cape, Zhejiang Normal University and Zhejiang Chinese Medical University.

Zhejiang Normal University

Zhejiang Normal University (ZJNU) was founded in 1956.

Zhejiang Chinese Medical University

Zhejiang Chinese Medical University (ZCMU) was founded in 1953 and is the right place to seek the roots of Chinese Medicine.

Related News


Celebration of the Spring Festival

As you may know, the Chinese New Year is only 22 January 2023, not 01 January 2023.

Confucius Institute Grand Office Opening

The International Relations Office at the University of the Western Cape is pleased to announce the successful grand opening of the Confucius Institute at the University of the Western Cape.

Cooking for Community – Chinese Home Cooking Online Festival

Join the Chinese Home Cooking Online Festival, hosted by the Confucius Institute and the International Relations Office at the University of the Western Cape.

Confucius Institute Celebrating Heritage Day

The leadership of the Confucius Institute at UWC, Prof Benjamin Zeng and Ms. Iris Wu, together with other staff and language teachers, celebrated Heritage day by showcasing their dance moves for the #Jerusalema Dance Challenge.

Supporting China

The University of the Western Cape (UWC) Student Choir sang the Chinese national anthem, March of the Volunteers, on Friday February 21 to  group of Chinese lecturers as a gesture of support for the country’s battle with the coronavirus.