New Year Greetings

The bell of the New Year is about to ring. At this wonderful moment of ringing out the Old Year and ringing in the New Year, we would like to extent New Year greetings and sincere wishes to all the Chinese teachers and volunteers working aboard far from their motherland and families throughout the world as well as teachers and students of Confucius Institutes in various countries.

The year of 2017 has served as a link between the past and the future of the Confucius Institute and keeps carrying forward its cause and forging ahead into the future. The teaching scale of the Confucius Institute has steadily expanded and the teaching quality is further improved. As of now, altogether 525 Confucius Institutes and 1,113 Confucius Classrooms have been established, covering 146 countries in the global family of Confucius Institutes. With its extended functions and improved systems, the Confucius Institute has made new contributions to serving the construction of the Belt and Road Initiative, enhancing the friendship among people around the world and facilitating mutual learning between China and the rest of the world.

“The Confucius Institute is not only a part of China, but also a part of the world”. It serves as a window and a bridge for lingual and cultural exchanges between China and the world. By working diligently and serving quietly, Chinese and foreign directors, teachers and volunteers have greatly contributed to the development of the Confucius Institute and communications between China and the rest of the world. Here, we would like to extent our heartfelt gratitude to all the friends who have supported and took part in the construction of Confucius Institutes.

Great accomplishments require ambition and tireless effort. In 2018, we will still adhere to the idea of innovation, cooperation, inclusiveness and sharing. We will remain true to our original aspiration, pool consensus, set long-term plans, perfect our systems and mechanisms, enhance strength building, improve teaching quality and level and promote innovative development, so as to realize transformation and upgrading, create a new situation of the development of the Confucius Institute and make new contributions to advancing culture diversity and enhancing the friendship among people around the world.

Wish everyone a happy new year, good health, career success and a happy family！

Confucius Institute Headquarters (Hanban)

2018 New Year’s Day