Confucius Institute

The Chinese instrument of Soft Power

The first Confucius Institute was created on the 21st of November 2004 in Seoul, South Korea. Following this, hundreds more have been opened in dozens of countries around the world. Confucius Institutes headquarters are located in Beijing, since the program is controlled and overseen by the Office of Chinese Language Council International, a non-profit organization that collaborates with the Chinese Government. The number of Confucius Institutes around the globe has multiple functions linked to the strategy of "soft power" employed by the Chinese government, such as the promotion and teaching of Chinese language and culture abroad as well as the encouraging of trade relations abroad. Here, Cultural Diplomacy is actively being used by China to promote a favourable image of the economic giant abroad.