Confucius Institute in Brittany(France)

Background Information On June 2OO6, the Letter of Cooperation lntent for establishing the Confucius Institute between le Conseil Regional de Bretagne, la Mairie de Rennes and the Office of Chinese Language Council International was signed, which is a great step towards the establishment of the Confucius Institute in France. Rennes, the capital of Brittany region, plays an influential role in the field of education in Brittany, and even in the whole France. The communication between Brittany and China can be traced back to the beginning of last century, when Victor Segalen visited China. The number of the Chinese learners in middle school in Rennes tops France. The Confucius Institute in Brittany, occupying 400 m2, is planned to locate at the center of Rennes City. There are two Advatages of Brittany and Rennes in building Confucius Institute.One is the long, friendly relationship with Chine; the other is that the two regions--Brittany and Shandong--are engaging in the Ancient Heritage Renewal project with the financial support from the Asia Urbs Project. A number of govemmental and non-govemmental organizations, such as Brittany Regional council,the Office of Chinese Language Council International, are offering positive supports. Future Development We will integrate various resources available in order to build Confucius Institute in Brittany into a cultural pivot. We will focus on these in our future work. Developing Chinese Language teaching for adults, promoting cultural activities on Chinese gastronomy, calligraphy and handicraft, tour of culture, encouraging youths to take short- term study programs in China. assisting in HSK and Chinese teacher training。