On Tuesday October 7, a group of officials and educators from China and African countries were in Beijing to attend the Conference on African Confucius Institutes Development. Zhou Ji, the Education Minister, told the conference that, "We have given full support to the African side in establishing the institutes and improving teaching."
The Chinese government had allocated more than 3 million U.S. dollars to help establish institutes in Africa. They employed more than 20 language teachers and had about 30,000 textbooks, publications, audio and video programs. Ten of the 21 planned Confucius Institutes in 13 African countries have already opened. They are jointly run by African and Chinese colleges with support from the Chinese government.
China began to set up Confucius Institutes abroad in 2004. To date, 271 Confucius Institutes have been founded in 77 countries and regions.
Source: Xinhua, October 7, 2008
http://news.xinhuanet.com/newscenter/2008-10/07/content_10159634.htm