A conference was held yesterday for deans or presidents and experts from host countries of Confucius Institutes, giving them an opportunity to swap experiences on the development of this special type of Chinese language school.

Since the first one opened in the Republic of Korea in November 2004, the number of such institutes has increased to 80 in 36 countries.

The popularity of such institutes suggests that China's ever-increasing economic and political influence has also aroused a great interest in the Chinese language. More than 30 million foreigners are currently believed to be studying the Chinese language.

The non-profit project to launch Confucius Institutes has met such needs. In addition, assistance from the governments of host countries in setting up these schools indicates that this move is in the interest of the people of the host countries.

That such schools are named after Confucius is significant for a number of reasons.

Confucius was himself a teacher. He was, more than 2,000 years ago, the first person to stress the importance of education for the cultivation of individual integrity and national prosperity. Nothing other than the name of Confucius can better epitomize the cultural significance of such schools.

As a great thinker, Confucius was famous for his sayings about how to best develop oneself into a man of virtue, maintain a reasonable relationship with others, remain in harmony with nature, and be a virtuous ruler.

In this perspective, the schools are so named to indicate that the Chinese people have confidence in their culture and Confucianism in particular, and believe that as an integral part of global civilization, Chinese culture is relevant to the building of a modern world civilization.

Learning the Chinese language is the first step into the realm of Chinese culture. It may be compared with crossing the threshold of this 5,000-year-old civilization.

Some Chinese language learners may go further and study a particular branch of Chinese culture. If they do so, they will find that great minds from the East do meet their counterparts from the West.

The meeting of different cultures provides opportunities for understanding. With more and more foreigners learning the Chinese language, we have reason to believe that more foreigners will develop an interest in Chinese culture. The more they understand this culture, the more they will appreciate China's efforts to build a harmonious world.

The development of Confucius Institutes offers bright prospects both for the teaching of the Chinese language and the dissemination of Chinese culture.