October 23 - On the morning of October 19th, the opening ceremony for the Ninth Italian Cultural Week, entitled "Italian Language in Arts, Science and Technology", was held in the north campus' library auditorium. GDUFS President Sui Guangjun, Italian Consul General in Guangzhou Paolo Miraglia Del Giudice and Swiss Consul General in Guangzhou Werner E. Nievergelt were all present.

President Sui delivered the welcome speech. He expressed heartfelt thanks to the Consulate Generals of Italy and Switzerland for their great support.  He stated that the establishment of the Faculty of Italian at GDUFS in 2000 has played an active role in southern and western China.   He went onto say that GDUFS is looking forward to the Italian Cultural Week as it will help to deepen teachers and students' understanding of Italian language and culture. He also expressed his wish that further cooperation with Italian and Swiss schools would enhance future cultural exchanges.

Italian Consul General Paolo Miraglia Del Giudice thanked GDUFS for its consistent efforts in promoting the wider study and use of the Italian language. He also said that several anniversaries which commemorate important events in Italian culture would be added to the meaning of this activity. During this Italian Cultural Week, the Italian Consulate General will put on a show featuring various kinds of programmes such as: music, lectures, films, and new books.

Swiss Consul General Werner E. Nievergelt started his speech with a humorous "Good morning!" in Chinese, to which the audience gave a roaring round of applause. He first generally introduced Switzerland to the audience.  Then he compared the differences between the two countries in a way that managed to illustrate the deep friendship between China and Switzerland.  At the end of his speech, he thanked GDUFS for the opportunity to communicate in Italian.

In the free question period, when asked about how to pursue further study in Italy and Switzerland, Consul General Miraglia indicated that Italian institutions of all degrees in China had information about organizations offering learning abroad services. He imparted patiently to students the ways of learning a language. He stated that learning a language and culture always go hand in hand.

The last part of the opening ceremony was a look at the exhibition "Ticino Architecture in the World". On display was a beautiful selection of world-renowned 20th century Swiss architecture.