BEIJING, Nov. 23 (Xinhuanet) -- A first-of-its-kind, government-backed school in Seoul, capital of Republic of Korea, will spread the benefits of learning the Chinese language among interested Koreans, China Daily reported Tuesday.

    Zhou Ji, Chinese minister of Education and Li Bin, Chinese ambassador to Republic of Korea attended the opening ceremony, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

    Zhou said the Confucius Institute, as the school is called, is the first of its kind in a foreign country. He said his administration will spare no effort in promoting Chinese learning in the Republic of Korea by supporting the institute's operations.

    Students from the Republic of Korea are the largest overseas student source in China and vice versa.

    The institute is seen as an effort to expand Chinese language in foreign countries, said Zhang Guoqiang, deputy director of National Office for Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language (NOCFL), sponsor of the institute.

    A rising number of international students are showing a keen desire to learn Chinese, he added.

    He said the institute in Seoul is only the first step for China and the number of such schools will increase as time goes on.

    By collaborating with foreign universities and educational organizations, Zhang's office plans to open more and more such institutes globally, enrolling students who want to learn Chinese from around the world.

    Confucius institutes, which have been globally approved, will be established in Asia, Africa and Europe.

    NOCFL has so far assigned agreements on building Confucius Institutes with United States, Sweden, Uzbekistan and South Africa.

    China will assign Chinese language teachers at institutes overseas.

    According to Zhang, to build such institutes conforms to international trends, since most world powers have established their own language schools in foreign countries in co-operation with local organizations.

    Zhang said in Beijing alone, Germany has established the Goethe-Institute, France has built Alliance Franciase and Spain has set up Instituto de Cervantes.

    More than 30 million people around the world now are learning Chinese and the Ministry of Education has predicted that the number of foreigners studying Chinese is expected to reach 100 million in the next five years.

    Some 2,300 universities in 85 countries or regions have opened Chinese language courses.

    State Councilor Chen Zhili met ROK Prime Minister Lee Hai-chan yesterday in Seoul on bilateral exchanges in education. Enditem

    (China Daily)