Confucius.jpg (Photo : Reuters)
The Chinese government has established 475 Confucius Institutes around the world, according to a statement from the Confucius Institute headquarters.
The institutes are located in 126 countries and regions, according to the institute during a conference it held in Xiamen, Fujian Province.
In addition to these centers for the teaching of Chinese culture and language, the institute has also set up 851 Confucius classrooms in primary and middle schools in several countries.
All told, Confucius institutes and classrooms cater to 3.45 million students around the world, said a Global Times report.
The statement also said that about 100 million people are learning the Mandarin language currently, which is more than four times than 10 years ago.
Since starting in 2004, the Confucius Institute has worked with 100,000 teachers, volunteers and other staff in teaching and promoting Chinese language and culture.
During the period, the institute has provided training to 200,000 Mandarin teachers in more than 100 countries, with 30,000 more to be trained by 2017, according to the State Council's Overseas Chinese Affairs Office.
The office is also looking to improve textbooks and design standardized testing in addition to the plan of training more language teachers, according to its head Qiu Yuanping.
