On May 18^th, the Confucius Institute at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, the Dutch-speaking Free University of Brussels, celebrated its official opening. VUB’s CI is the thirteenth overseas Confucius Institute co-established by Renmin University of China; it was established as a joint project between VUB, Sichuan University, and RUC. The launch ceremony was held at the famous Solvay Public Library of Brussels. Mr. Dirk Achten, Secretary General of the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Borelli Vito, in charge of EU-China relations at the European Commission’s Department of Education and Culture, Mr. LI Jianmin, Minister-Counsellor of the PRC’s Mission to the European Union, RUC Executive Vice Chairman, ZHANG Jianming, and Vice President of Sichuan University, YAN Shijing, all gave talks at the launch. More than 100 local and international guests from leading think tanks, research institutes, and universities, as well as representatives of the media, also joined the event.