On Dec. 16, 2012, China’s State Councilor, Liu Yandong, delivered a speech at the opening ceremony of the seventh conference of Confucius Institutes. According to Liu, who is also the president the Confucius Institute Headquarters Council, the Chinese government will actively support the steady development of Confucius Institutes, following the spirit of the 18th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party.
In 2012, 400 Confucius Institutes and over 500 Confucius Classrooms were in operation globally. They received about 655,000 registered students from 108 countries and regions. Liu encouraged Confucius Institutes to expand the coverage of their operations from major cities to other regions and from colleges to communities.
Source: Xinhua, December 16, 2012
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