China yesterday established its first Confucius Institute on the
air at China Radio International (CRI), offering Chinese language
teaching in 38 foreign languages worldwide.
The broadcast Confucius Institute, jointly set up by the Office
of Chinese Language Council International, the State Administration
of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT), Confucius Institute
headquarters and CRI, is to meet surging overseas demand to learn
the Chinese language, according to Zhang Xinsheng, vice minister of
education.
The institute will offer Chinese teaching programs by wireless
broadcasting and online broadcasting based on the uniform study
materials compiled by the Office of Chinese Language Council
International to learners worldwide, said Geng Qingqing, a CRI
official.
The founding of the Confucius Institute on air marked a
milestone in the field of Chinese language promotion, said Hu
Zhanfan, deputy director of the SARFT.
Named after the famous ancient Chinese philosopher, more than
200 Confucius institutes have been set up in more than 60 countries
to spread Chinese culture.
Confucius, born in 551 BC, was a great thinker, philosopher,
statesman and educator. He advocated building a harmonious society
through individual self-refinement in manners and taste. His
theory, dubbed Confucianism, had dominated Chinese society for more
than 1,000 years and was known in Europe in the late 16th
century.
Over the past 66 years since it was founded, the CRI has
provided lectures and programs on Chinese language education in 38
foreign languages.
Education ministry figures show currently 30 million people
overseas are learning Chinese and the figure may hit 100 million by
2010.
(Shanghai Daily, December 7, 2007)