About Us
The Government of the People's Republic of China has announced funding for the establishment of 100 Confucius Institutes worldwide as part of China's growing global interaction and engagement, and the University of Melbourne and Asialink are proud to have secured the Confucius Institute at The University of Melbourne with Nanjing University as the Chinese Partner University.
Confucius Institutes are already in place in the USA, Korea and Sweden, and Letters of Intent have recently been signed with India, Pakistan and New Zealand, with further negotiations currently underway in Europe.
The Confucius Institute network is being created to spearhead the teaching of the Chinese language and culture worldwide, as well as acting as a vehicle through which to strengthen economic and business ties.
The Institutes are considered a very high priority of the Government of the People's Republic of China.
On July 6th 2005, China's Ambassador, Madame Fu Ying joined with Melbourne University's Vice-Chancellor Glyn Davis, in front of an audience of over 150 leading business and academic representatives, for the official signing of a Letter of Intent to establish the leading national centre, to be known as the Confucius Institute at The University of Melbourne.
With funding from both the Chinese and Victorian Governments, the Institute is co-located with the Australian China Business Council. As well as delivering language, cultural exchange and training programs, it will offer advanced programs to enhance the business and trade relations between the State of Victoria and China.
Since the establishment, the Confucius Institute has provided services and training to government organizations, corporations and professionals. Our major clients include the Victorian Department of Education, MMG, Telstra, PWC, NAB, Langham Hotel, National Foods, Thales ATM, and Westpac, etc. From June 2007 till present, the Confucius Institute has offered executive training programs to 633 people, Chinese language programs to 354 people and has spoken at 61 seminars and public forums with a total audience of 4541 people.
The Institute aims to be a centre of education excellence for Australian companies wishing to do business with China and for Chinese companies and executives wanting to do business in Australia.
