Chinese vice premier highlights Chinese language's popularity in U.S.

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The Chinese language has become increasingly popular around the world and acquired greater importance among governments and educational institutions, visiting Chinese Vice Premier Liu Yandong said in Washington on Wednesday.

Liu made the remarks before students and staff while visiting the Confucius Institute of George Washington University.

"I believe language is the bridge connecting people's hearts," she said, speaking through an interpreter.

Liu said as China's international exchanges and cooperation with the world continues to deepen, English has gained increasing importance in China, with about 300 million people in the country studying or having studied the language.

The vice premier spoke highly of the educational exchange programs between the two nations, such as the 100,000 Strong Initiative brought forward by U.S. President Barack Obama and similar projects initiated by China.

The Confucius Institutes and classes have been well recognized and well received across the world, she said.

More than 430 Confucius Institutes and over 640 Confucius classes in elementary and secondary schools have been set up globally. Among them, 98 Confucius Institutes and 350 Confucius Classes have been hosted in the United States.

Liu is scheduled to co-chair the fourth China-U.S. High-level Consultation on People-to-People Exchange with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in Washington on Thursday.

"We hope that by building on the progress achieved in the past three years, we will make new outcomes this time," said Liu.

The bilateral consultation was launched in 2010. Under the mechanism, the two countries have achieved remarkable results in areas of education, science and technology, culture, sports, women's issues and young people.

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