On 8 November 2017, Ann Carlisle CEO and Jane Galbraith, Head of Membership, commenced a two-week, two-centre visit to Hong Kong and Shanghai, which focused on three key areas:

• Membership development and new business opportunities
• The HE Language Partner programme; the official signing of the Memorandum of Understanding between CIOL and its first partner in Hong Kong, Caritas Institute of Higher Education
• Presentations to members attending the AGMs of the Hong Kong Society (HKS) and the China Association

On the eve of the HKS AGM a meeting was held with the President and Chair of the Society at which the role of HKS in supporting membership growth and the Society’s annual conference on Linguistics and Language Studies were discussed.  At the AGM and annual luncheon the following day, Ann Carlisle gave members in attendance an update on key CIOL activities and Jane Galbraith encouraged all eligible members to seek chartership and to join CIOL’s campaign to raise professional standards. The key messages were well received and supported by HKS. Following the presentations, Ann Carlisle was delighted to present the award for the best candidate performance (in Hong Kong) for the Diploma in Translation to Hin Pan Or.

Caritas Institute of Higher Education has a long association with CIOL and its awarding organisation IoLET. This was reconfirmed through the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding with Caritas as the first CIOL HE Language partner in Hong Kong. Dr. Kim Mak, President said “Being a Language Partner is very important to our future plans; we would like our graduates to not only master language skills but also to develop the skills required to be professional linguists.”

Moving to Shanghai, the focus on this part if the trip was the China Association’s second AGM, hosted by Fudan University. Professors from a number of local universities were in attendance along with a selection of students who had participated in the first CIOL China Association Translation competition for postgrads studying the Masters in Interpreting and Translation (MIT). Over 600 students entered the competition and a number of awards were made to recognise the highest achievers. The CIOL China Association is using the competition to raise awareness of the Diploma in Translation and professional membership. 

Following the AGM, CIOL representatives continued with a series of university visits they undertake each time they are in China during which they meet faculty staff, present lectures to students and explore possible opportunities for collaboration. This time we met with Shanghai Lixin University of Accounting and Finance including the Dean of the School of Foreign Languages Professor Tu Liping after which Ann Carlisle and Jane Galbraith addressed approximately 100 first year students studying either English or Japanese. The visit concluded with a meeting at the University of Nottingham’s campus in Ningbo, complete with a replica of the Trent Building.

 

Ann Carlisle said “The biannual visits to Hong Kong and China remain key to enabling the senior management team to understand both the opportunities and challenges we face, particularly in China, as an emerging market. Membership numbers in Hong Kong remain stable but through the Hong Kong Society we are looking to rebuild our capability and to reposition CIOL in Hong Kong as a valued professional institute for linguists. Work in China, through our China Association is moving steadily forward and the ambition is to have over 1,000 postgrad students enter next year’s Translation Competition. This is a positive way to introduce young linguists and future members to the benefits of the DipTrans and membership. I would like to finish by extending my sincere thanks to Ms Florence Lam, CIOL’s regional coordinator in Hong Kong, who offered support and guidance throughout our trip.”