On December 4, 2018, the 13th Confucius Institute Conference was held in Chengdu, Sichuan Province. The conference was organized by the Confucius Institute Headquarters (Hanban). Sun Chunlan, Vice Premier of China and Chair of the Council of the Confucius Institute Headquarters, attended the opening ceremony and delivered a speech. The conference attracted more than 1,500 university presidents and Chinese and foreign representatives of Confucius Institutes from over 150 countries and regions. The conference, with “Facilitating the new development through reform and innovation; Forging a brighter future with concerted efforts” as the theme, included several thematic forums, workshops, and forums for domestic and foreign university presidents. XJTU president Wang Shuguo, vice president Xi Guang and other officials attended the conference.

During the conference, XJTU president Wang Shuguo met Koji Furuya，the president of Yamanashi Gakuin University. Both parties signed an Executive Agreement on Jointly Establishing the Confucius Institute at Yamanashi Gakuin University and expressed a commitment to establish a first-class Confucius Institute based on their leading-edge disciplines and geographical advantages. They further expressed the hope to promote communication and cooperation in fields such as student and teacher exchange and cooperative programs, and to enhance the communication in disciplines such as the Humanities and Law.