By Galina Grishkovets
In December, Beijing hosted the 6th Annual Confucius Institute Conference — a network of international cultural and education centres, set up by the International Chinese Language Council (Hanban). At present, over 350 institutes and around 500 Confucius classes operate in 104 countries worldwide.
The conference brought together representatives of two Belarusian universities: the Confucius’ Republican Institute of Sinology at the Belarusian State University and the Confucius Institute at Minsk’s State Linguistic University.
During the event, it was announced that the BSU Institute of Sinology is now ranked among the top twenty Confucius institutes — as proven by corresponding certificates.
The Confucius’ Republican Institute of Sinology was established at the Belarusian State University five years ago, aiming to form a highly professional sinology environment, uniting sinologists from all branches, and ensuring all-round support for our country in Eastern and South-Eastern Asia. The Institute is keen to popularise Chinese language and culture and assistance is provided to both states in trade-economic and scientific co-operation.
In September 2011, the second Confucius Institute in Belarus was opened at Minsk’s State Linguistic University, officially launched by the Chairman of the Standing Committee of China’s National People’s Congress, Wu Bangguo.
