December 29, 2023
Dear members of the Confucius Institute family,
As time ticks away, the New Year is just around the corner. Before its arrival, I, on behalf of the Chinese International Education Foundation, would like to extend our best wishes to all members of the Confucius Institute family!
In 2023, the Confucius Institute family has welcomed 15 new members. I hereby extend our gratitude to the partners of the new members for your recognition of the Confucius Institute’s concept of developing and sharing through joint effort and welcome to join this great cause of international Chinese language education.
In 2023, Confucius Institutes have taken energetic steps forward. A succession of 128 Chinese directors assumed their posts, 51 local directors visited China for seminars, and 26 Chinese and local directors were awarded the Medal for Long Service as a Confucius Institute Director. Brand events such as the Confucius Institute Day, the CI Moments Global Short Video Collection Event, and the Online Chinese Lunar New Year Gala of Confucius Institutes have been held to tell the fantastic stories of the Confucius Institute as usual. With the accelerated construction of the digital platform for the Confucius Institute, the portal website and the relevant cloud system have been optimized, allowing members of the Confucius Institute family to achieve interconnectivity.
In 2023, the Confucius Institute has gathered and developed with great momentum. We participated in the first World Chinese Language Conference and the Joint Conference of Southeast Asian Confucius Institutes to discuss future plans and share achievements. My colleagues at the CIEF and I were invited to visit nearly 20 Confucius Institutes and Confucius Classrooms in 2023, allowing us to witness how everyone is working diligently to serve local communities and students by providing high-quality teaching services that are well received.
The year 2024 is approaching, in which the Confucius Institute will celebrate its 20th birthday, and finish its growth from a toddler to the youth in prime.
In 2024, let’s uphold our original intention to “connect culture and hearts by language” to construct a high-quality platform for people from all over the world to learn Chinese and understand Chinese culture. In this way, we can make new contributions to cultural exchange between China and the rest of the world, mutual learning between diverse civilizations, and mutual understanding among the peoples of different countries.
In 2024, let’s wish a happy 20th birthday to the Confucius Institute!
In 2024, let’s wish all members of the Confucius Institute family a successful and fruitful year!
Yang Wei
President
Chinese International Education Foundation
