On December 7, 2013, the opening ceremony of the 8th Conference of Global Confucius Institutes was held at the Beijing International Conference Center. The president of American University of Nebraska-Lincoln that is the university of cooperation between XJTY and the Confucius Institutes professor Harvey Perlman stood out among the workers from the Confucius Institutes of 120 countries and regions and was awarded the honorary title of "Global Confucius Institute Trailblazer." The vice premier of the State Council and the chairwoman of headquarter council of the Confucius Institutes, Liu Yandong, presented certificates to President Perlman and 30 other global trailblazers.

President Perlman has strongly supported the development of Chinese language teaching in Nebraska ever since the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Confucius Institute (UNLCI) was established. For six years, the Chinese teaching of UNCLI has basically covered the whole state and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln is again offering Chinese as a credit course. UNLCI has increased enthusiasm for the study of Chinese in the state of Nebraska and has helped the people of the state to know and understand Chinese culture better.