Confucius Institutes lauded in promoting "Belt and Road" initiative
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Kungfu lovers perform martial art at a square during an activity held by Palacky University in Prague of Czech on Sept 24, 2014, to celebrate the Day of the Confucius Institute which falls on Sept 27. [Photo: Xinhua]

There are high hopes the worldwide network of Confucius Institutes can play a positive role in promoting both the understanding and effectiveness of the China inspired 'Belt and Road' initiative, which binds together around 60 countries to cooperate in trade and investment.

Established in 2004, there are now more than 500 Confucius institutes teaching Chinese language and culture to more than two million people.

Thousands of delegates came together over the weekend for the 11th Confucius Institute Conference, which was held in Kunming, capital city of southwest China's Yunnan Province.

Dubbed 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 collaborate in culture, trade and economy.

Chancellor 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 promotion of the Belt and Road initiative."

During the conference, Chinese Vice Premier, 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 integration 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 pertinent 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 mandarin in Southeast Asian countries, which are along the maritime 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 collaboration between China, Bangladesh, Myanmar and India.

Author： 　　　Source：CRI　　　 Editor：Yang Fan