In June 2020, a non-governmental organisation called The Chinese International Education Foundation (CIEF) was established by 27 founding members with a mission to assume responsibility for support, coordination and future development of the 500+ worldwide Confucius Institute network whose mission is to teach Chinese language and culture.

It takes over from the Confucius Institute Headquarters (Hanban), established in 2004, which has developed the network of 541 Confucius Institutes, and many more Confucius Classrooms, and funded diverse projects to expand Chinese language teaching and cultural understanding.

The Chinese International Education Foundation comprises an initial grouping of Chinese universities including Peking University, Fudan University, and Beijing Language and Culture University, together with social organisations and companies. Further information can be found here and in the news announcement on the Hanban webpage.

Individual Confucius Institutes will continue to partner with a Chinese University and henceforth will be coordinated by the Chinese International Education Foundation. Lancaster University Confucius Institute’s partner is the South China University of Technology based in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province. Lancaster University welcomed the changes, in particular the renewed focus and enhanced opportunity to develop its partnership with South China University of Technology (SCUT). Its Confucius Institute Director, Professor Jinghan Zeng, met with South China University of Technology’s Dean of College of International Education, Wang Qingnian and colleagues to discuss initial steps in the transition and travelled to Beijing to be the first Confucius Institute partnership to meet the senior Chinese International Education Foundation team.

A separate new organisation called Center for Language Education and Cooperation (CLEC) will develop new education and partnership initiatives distinct from Confucius Institutes.