The Directors of TAG-Confucius Institute, Ms. Yang Songfang and Mr. Mamoun Abu al-Sebaa attended the 11th Confucius Institute Conference held in Kunming, China on 10 and 11 December 2016. The theme of the conference was Innovation, Cooperation, Inclusion and Sharing . About 2400 representatives from 140 countries attended the conference.

HE Liu Yandong, Vice Premier of the People s Republic of China and Chair of Council of the Confucius Organisation, attended the conference and made a keynote speech at the opening ceremony. She said that during the 12 years since the establishment of Confucius Institute, due to the joint efforts of Chinese and local parties and a variety of social groups,, the Confucius Institutes had made great strides with many notable highlights such as steady growth in size, continuous improvement in teaching quality and optimization of operational systems, among others, which had brought new vitality into sustainable development. The Confucius Institutes are the bridge builders to join eastern and western civilizations and the access to a deeper friendship between China and other countries.

During the conference, seven Presidents Fora were held. They were: Confucius Institute and the Belt and Road Initiative , Confucius Institutes

Experiences and Challenges in Cooperating with Universities , Developing CI and Business Partnerships , Expanding the Platform of Cooperation between Chinese and Overseas Partners , Maximizing the Function of the Confucius Institute Board , Best Practices and Appraisal Criteria for Model Confucius Institutes . Seven Directors Forums were also held, entitled Quality of CI Directors and Teachers , Chinese Language Resources Translated into All Possible Languages , A Global System for the Chinese Language Proficiency Tests Service , Cultural Exchange in Both Directions , Confucius China Studies Program: Reflections and Vision , The Quality Evaluation of Confucius Institutes , and Confucius Classrooms .

The Symposium on Traditional Chinese Medicine and Taiji Culture and Confucius Institutes and the Belt and Road Initiative Roundtable Forum were held during the conference. In addition, activities such as an Information Service about the Headquarters Programs, the Confucius Institute Chinese Language Teaching Resource Exhibition, and additional exhibitions which included the following: Creative Art Culture at Confucius Institute, Yunnan Intangible Cultural Heritage, and Traditional Chinese Ethnic Medicine in Yunnan province.,

Dr. Hao Ping, Deputy Minister of Education and Executive Council member of the Confucius Institute Headquarters, China, gave a lecture entitled China: Education Reform and the Opening-up of China . He introduced China s educational reform and the opening up of China s education system, and

Proposed suggestions on the future development of the Confucius Institute. He said that since the opening up of China, China s education system had made continuous development with a steady growth in size and quality. The principal effect is based on the fact that the Chinese government has adhered to a strategy of giving the priority to the development of education and developing the country through science and their view that education is a key to earning a living. It also promotes a balanced development of education, accelerating the development of modern vocational education and so on. He also pointed out that opening up education is an important part of the opening up of China itself. The Chinese government has adopted measures to promote the quality and standards in this new accessible education.

During the Conference, the two Directors of TAG-Confucius Institute met the delegation of Shenyang Normal University, the partner university of TAG-CI, and reported on the work recently implemented and the work plan for the near future.

The annual Confucius Institute Conference is considered an educational Davos aiming at summing up experiences, promoting communication and strengthening cooperation. The conference this year shared wisdom widely, valued the connotation development and quality promotion and made efforts to create a new stage in the development of the Confucius Institute.

To date there are 511 Confucius Institutes and 1073 Confucius Classrooms in 140 countries, with 2.1 million learners.