A Global Experiment in the Internationalization of Chinese Universities: Models, Experiences, Policies, and Prospects of the Confucius Institutes’ First Decade

Abstract

As of year-end 2014, the Confucius Institutes—the largest international educational cooperation project in human history, and the largest internationalization project in the history of Chinese universities—celebrated their first decade of existence. This case study examines 27 Confucius Institutes in 15 countries spread across six continents around the world and relies on first-hand empirical data to reveal their development models, experiences, and challenges; disparities in operations in developed countries and developing countries; and the far-reaching significance of Chinese Universities 3.0: Going International with respect to the development of world civilizations. The significance of the Confucius Institutes’ past decade of development is not limited to Chinese teaching and the popularization of Chinese culture around the world, but rather rests in the proactive promotion of the Chinese model for educational development, diversification of human civilization, and bidirectional cooperation, truly embodying a new realm of peace, cooperation and equality. This model actively assumes and promotes the peaceful mission of exchanges and dialogue between different civilizations, providing a positive lesson for the further development of the Confucius Institutes, for international cooperation and educational development by Chinese universities, and even for UNESCO, the World Bank, and other institutions for international development.