2016年CRI Confucius Institutes lauded in promoting ＂Belt and Road＂ initiative

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Dubbed¹ the "Davos of the education sector," this year's two-day conference attracted over 2,200 principals and representatives from 140 countries and regions.

Many describing the Confucius Institutes as an important channel for countries along the Belt and Road to collaborate² in culture, trade and economy.

Chancellor³ of Kabul University, Hamidullah Farooqi, says the Confucius Institute and the Belt and Road initiative share something in their souls.

"We want to enhance exchange and cooperation with countries along the belt and road. Fortunately, Confucius Institute was designed to set up a link between different cultures and thoughts, which coincides with that of the Belt and Road initiative. So from this perspective, Confucius Institutes can help with the promotion⁴ of the Belt and Road initiative."

During the conference, Chinese Vice⁵ Premier⁶, Liu Yandong, proposed a new theme for Confucius Institute that emphasizes "innovation, cooperation, inclusion and sharing."

She said the institutes would mainly focus on localization and its integration⁷ with the 'Belt and Road' initiative in the years ahead.

Liu Yandong says with the increase of Chinese investment along the Belt and Road, Confucius Institutes are expected to play a bigger role.

"As the building of the Belt and Road proceeds, Confucius Institutes that are good at language training and familiar with local conditions, can make use of these advantages to help set up cooperation platforms between Chinese and local enterprises, provide information services and more pertinent⁸ occupational training. Language can help policies to be understood. Trade can improve relations between peoples."

Confucius Institutes are named after ancient Chinese philosopher Confucius, and serve as non-profit public institutions to help foreigners better understand China by teaching Chinese language and culture at universities overseas. The first such institute was established in 2004.

As of now, a total of 2.1 million people are studying Chinese language and culture in 511 Confucius Institutes and 1,073 Confucius Classrooms across 140 countries and regions.

Many attendees at the conference agreed Confucius Institutes have enormously boosted people-to-people exchange, trade, economic and educational cooperation along Belt and Road while promoting Chinese culture.

During the conference, a new center aiming to promote mandarin⁹ in Southeast Asian countries, which are along the maritime¹⁰ Silk Road, was inaugurated in Yunnan University.

The center will train Chinese language teachers and provide talent support for Confucius Institutes in the region.

In another program, the Chinese school and the University of Dhaka in Bangladesh will set up a new Confucius Institute to work as a platform for economic collaboration¹¹ between China, Bangladesh, Myanmar and India.

For CRI, this is Liu Mohan.