The 7th Confucius Institute Conference was held at the China National Convention Center in Beijing from December 16 to 18, 2012. During the conference, Hao Ping, Vice Minister of Education, visited the MyEChinese distance education Chinese experiential zone held by the OUC’s Chinese Language Center. 

The Chinese Language Center set up the MyEChinese distance education Chinese experiential zone to promote its new online HSK mock exam database and its Time to Talk Chinese – Chinese for Children mobile learning products. The staff also introduced the new MyEChinese online HSK mock exam database during the “Online Chinese Language Exams and Training” Forum. 

Hao Ping heard about the development of the MyEChinese International Chinese Education Distance Teaching System and congratulated the center on its achievements. He encouraged the center to seize the opportunities presented by the current market and continue its efforts to facilitate distance Chinese education. 

As the first professional exam database providing distance online exam preparation and mock exam services, the expertise and the practical applicability of the system has won the recognition of representatives from many different Confucius Institutes. Representatives from Mongolia Yucai Radio Confucius Classroom, Bangladesh North South University Confucius Institute, and Burapha University Confucius Institute, all visited the experiential zone after the forum and expressed their wish that students of the Confucius Institute would be able to use the database to increase the HSK pass rate. 

The center’s Time to Talk Chinese – Chinese for Children iPad application, which combines cartoons with real-life videos, also caught the attention of the representatives. Many representatives downloaded the app onsite and said that they would like to promote it to their students. The app was downloaded more than 300 times during the Conference. 

The theme of the conference was: “To Facilitate the Integration of the Confucius Institute into the university and local community”. More than 2,000 guests attended the conference, including host university presidents and representatives from the Confucius Institutes in 108 countries and regions as well as their Chinese counterparts. 

Hao Ping, Vice Minister of Education, (second from right) speaks with staff from the OUC’s Chinese Language Center 

OUC staff introduce the MyEChinese International Chinese Education Distance Teaching System to conference attendees 

Staff explain the new online HSK mock exam database to attendees

By Wu Di and Qiu Min, the OUC