Chart of the Day: The Growth of China’s Confucius Institutes

Though at times controversial, China’s Confucius Institute program is growing apace. By the end of last year, 525 Confucius Institutes and 1,113 Confucius Classrooms had been established in 138 countries and regions in the 14 years since the first was opened in Seoul, South Korea.

According to China’s Confucius Institute Headquarters, Europe had most centers with 173 Confucius Institutes across 41 countries by the end of 2017, followed by the Americas with 161 Confucius Institutes in 21 countries. The centers promote Chinese language and culture and are often nested at existing universities and schools.

The number of institutes has risen almost 90-fold since 2004, with the rate of growth slowing slightly in the past eleven years after an initial three years of breakneck expansion.

A number of the centers have been shuttered in the U.S. amid fears about Chinese government influence on campuses, but many more are to be established in other regions, including in the African nations of Guinea, Congo, Gambia and Gabon where there were previously none.

The Confucius Institute program is affiliated with China’s Ministry of Education.

Contact reporter Gao Baiyu(baiyugao@caixin.com)