Directors of foreign universities expressed their welcome to the
Confucius Institute, China's program to promote its culture and
mutual understanding around the world.
The second Confucius Institute Conference opened in Beijing
Tuesday gathering delegates from Institutes around the world.
"My experience at the conference shows that you can make friends
worldwide if you speak Chinese," said Gary Sigley, director of the
Confucius Institute of the University of Western Australia, here on
Tuesday.
To promote Chinese language and culture, China started to host
Confucius Institutes in 2004. So far, there have been 210 Confucius
Institutes opened in 64 countries and regions. In addition, more
than 20 organizations from 61 countries have applied to open
Confucius Institutes.
Sigley's 45 students are studying in China under an exchange
program with the institute. Most of them are younger than 25.
"They come from different cultural and social backgrounds from
their Chinese counterparts but share the same dream of a peaceful
and harmonious world," he said. "Confucius Institutes offer a
platform of cross-culture communication and friendship."
"Courses on Chinese tea culture and Tai Ji Quan, offered at the
institute, are always over-subscribed," said Kawaguchi Kiyofumi,
president of Ritsumeikan University.
Agreeing with Kiyofumi, William M. Tsutsui, executive director
of the Confucius Institute of the University of Kansas in the
United States, said that local residents are expecting more
practical and interesting Chinese courses.
China's Peking University is cooperating with nine Confucius
Institutes at colleges abroad. Xu Zhihong, its president, said that
the program also helps the university to improve all-round
cooperation with foreign counterparts.
Timothy O'Shea, Principal of the University of Edinburgh in the
United Kingdom, said that the Confucius Institute helped strengthen
China-Britain friendly cooperation and deepened British people's
understanding of Chinese culture.
The university's Confucius Institute has offered Chinese
language courses at different levels and special programs, for
example for company employees, government officials. It has also
organized a touring Chinese film festival, he said.
Jean Tabi Manga, president of University of Yaounde II of
Cameroon, is on his first trip to China.
Cameroonian people hold China in special affection, he said,
adding that the Confucius Institute has received a warm welcome
from both the government and ordinary people.
"The Confucius Institute in our university is young but
energetic. We have many plans and are confident we can promote
Chinese language and culture among Cameroonians and in Africa at
large, so as to expand cooperation between the two sides," he
said.
Almost all the delegates at the conference recite, "It is such a
delight to have friends coming from afar," the famous saying of
Kongzi, the ancient Chinese philosopher whom the Confucius
Institute was named after.
Chinese State Councilor Chen Zhili said China would join hands with
foreign counterparts to further improve the teaching quality of
Confucius Institutes.
"At its primary stage, Confucius Institutes still face such
problems as lack of qualified teachers, inadequate textbooks and
insufficient teaching methods," she said.
She said a long-term development plan should be drawn to ensure
a sustainable development for the Confucius Institute, so that such
key factors as investment, teacher, textbook and teaching methods
would be well arranged.
"In addition, more interesting courses such as traditional
Chinese medicine, Chinese health care, culture, tourism and
commerce will be added to meet learners' demand," Chen said.
Confucius Institutes will also improve its service to local
primary and middle schools and play a more active role in
internet-based Chinese language teaching and teachers' training
program, she added.
The Confucius Institute has helped promote the concept of a
harmonious world proposed by the Chinese people, said Chinese
Education Minister Zhou Ji.
Statistics showed that more than 30 million people overseas are
learning the Chinese language.
"The Confucius Institute has become a window to display Chinese
culture to the outside world, and a bridge to strengthen mutual
understanding between peoples," Zhou said.
Education Minister Zhou Ji said that more than 200 institutes in
61 countries and regions have applied to open up Confucius
Institutes in addition to the existing institutes. "China will give
all possible help," he said.
According to Zhou, the headquarters has so far sent more than
300 teaching experts and presented 30 kinds of books to overseas
Confucius Institutes. Total investment in Confucius Institutes has
reached 26 million U.S. dollars to date.
China hosted the first Confucius Institute Conference in 2005 to
officially announce the establishment of the first group of
Confucius Institutes. This year, more than 1,000 delegates from
home and abroad attended the conference. The delegates will discuss
and draw up a charter for the Confucius Institute Headquarters
(CIH), a permanent organization in charge of Confucius Institute
affairs.
(Xinhua News Agency December 12, 2007)