BEIJING, Sept. 7 -- You may be able to find a Chinese teaching class close to your home sooner than you think.

    The Chinese government is promoting a project to make the Chinese language as popular as English around the world. It aims to have 100 million foreigners learning Chinese by 2010.

    It's not a easy task, but there is reason to be optimistic. There are currently 60,000 foreigners learning Chinese in China and 30 million people learning it overseas.

    China's prosperous economy and rising importance in its role on the world stage are the main reasons people around the world are keen to master Chinese.

    Two years ago, the opening of the first Confucius Institute in Seoul by the Office of Chinese Language Council International prompted the development.

    There are now 80 Confucius Institutes in 36 countries around the world as well as an interactive website. The website is an invisible community based on life in Beijing. Internet users everywhere can communicate with residents in the community conveniently.

   (Source: CRIENGLISH.com)