BEIJING, Dec. 12 (Xinhua) -- China's Education Minister Zhou Ji vowed to maintain the sound development of the Confucius Institute, placing equal emphasis on quality and quantity here on Wednesday.

    To promote Chinese language and culture, China launched Confucius Institutes overseas in 2004.

    Since then, 210 Confucius Institutes have been established in 64 countries and regions. In addition, more than 200 educational institutes in 61 countries and regions are applying to open up Confucius Institutes.

    By now, the institutes have played an active role in showcasing Chinese language and culture, Zhou said at the closing ceremony of the second Confucius Institute Conference.

    "Chinese courses at the Confucius Institutes have received a warm welcome from foreign learners, with the teaching quality improved and methods refreshed," he said.

    Zhou admitted there are problems like a shortage of teachers and textbooks, which count against the rapid development of Confucius Institutes overseas.

    Chinese government will continue its efforts to address existing problems so as to maintain the sound development of Confucius Institutes, he said.

    By now, China has sent more than 300 teachers and presented over 300,000 sets of textbooks and audio materials to Confucius Institutes with a total investment of over 26 million U.S. dollars.

    Xu Lin, director of the Office of China's International Language Council, said "how to balance the quantity and quality of the Institute has become a key problem for its development."

    Last year, China took several moves to help Confucius Institutes worldwide improve their teaching quality and management, Xu said.

    In 2006, The Confucius Institute headquarters released guidelines for principals of the Confucius Institutes and opened training programs for Chinese schools participating in Confucius Institutes, according to Xu.

    "Only by observing strict standards, the Confucius Institute can achieve sustainable and sound development," Xu said.