On June 15, 2004, Chinese President Hu Jintao officially opened the first Confucius Institute in Uzbekistan. Nearly three years later, on January 31, 2007, Premier Wen Jiabao and Portugal Premier Socrates signed the latest such agreement at the Great Hall of the People opening a Confucius Institute in University of Lisbon.
To date, 128 Confucius Institutes exist around the world, with 46 in Asia, 46 in Europe, 26 in North America, 6 in Africa and 4 in Oceania.
Global interest in China and the Chinese language has been growing along with China’s economy.
In the US, over 20, 000 students were learning Chinese in 200 public primary and middle schools back in 2004, this number rising to 50,000 in 2006 with a further 2,400 middle schools wishing to offer Chinese classes. [Full Text]