[InKunming--Kunming] The 11th Confucius Institute Conference kicks off in Kunming, capital city of southwest China's Yunnan Province on Dec 10, 2016.

Chinese vice premier Liu Yandong, Yunnan governor Chen Hao, Chinese minister of education Chen Baosheng, and 2,200 delegates from 140 countries and regions worldwide attend the opening ceremony.

“Confucius Institutes belong to China, also belong to the world. Over the past decade, education quality, service capability and operating mechanism of Confucius Institutes have been improved, widened and completed incessantly, which bring great vitality to sustainable development.” Chinese Vice Premier, Chair of Council of the Confucius Institute Headquarters, Liu Yandong noted in her address in the open ceremony.

Yunnan governor Chen Hao said the 11th Confucius Institute Conference brings about an opportunity for Yunnan to exchange and cooperate with the international community, and will make Yunnan better known to the world.

Hungarian local Chinese teacher Karsai Zsuzsanna and Canadian pianist Roger Lord also told their touching stories related to China and the Chinese language.

Themed “innovation, cooperation, inclusion and sharing”, the conference aims to exchange ideas and language teaching experiences between China and foreign experts in an attempt to improve teaching quality and upgrade Confucius Institutes.

After the open ceremony, altogether14 forums and 2 symposia are going to be launched during the 2-day-long conference. Various exhibitions will be presented to the public as well according to schedule.

According to introduction, the Confucius Institute Conference has been held annually for the past ten years. So far, a total of 511 Confucius Institutes and 1,073 Confucius Classrooms have been established in 140 countries around the world. Students of these institutes and classrooms have reached 5,100,000.

Click here to view the Chinese report.

(Editors:Tracy,Rachel)