"We are very happy to see the growth of Confucius Institutes in European countries in recent years," said Mr. Vito Borrelli, Head of the China Desk for General Education and Culture in the European Commission in Brussels.

Since 2004, when the first Confucius Institute opened in Seoul, South Korea, 455 Confucius Institutes and 680 Confucius Classrooms have opened in 121 countries throughout the world. 140 Confucius Institutes and 126 Confucius Classrooms have opened in 35 countries in Europe. Confucius Institutes can been seen throughout the EU.

"Most of the Confucius Institutes have been created within the framework of the European universities, which support in particular the teaching of Chinese language but also the dissemination of Chinese culture through different activities," said Borrelli, while commenting on the role of the Confucius Institutes in China-EU cultural exchange. In addition to language lessons, Chinese cultural activities provided by the institutes such as Chinese painting, music, food and martial arts are also popular with European students.

"The Confucius Institute is also an essential instrument to balance the presence of the European cultural centers in China. This has been the case for many European countries which have a longer tradition of relations and exchanges with China - France, Germany and the UK are probably the most active in China. For many years, they have promoted their own cultures and languages through their culture centers there," said Borrelli.

"We see the Confucius institutes as a very good counterpart to our activities in China and will continue to support their installation in Europe," he confirmed.

Confucius institutes are non-profit public organizations committed to promoting understanding of the Chinese language and culture worldwide.