China's Confucius Institute (CI) meant to be a cultural bridge is also helping many young people in a host of countries to pick up practical skills and secure job opportunities.
This unintended contribution is largely due to its Chinese language programs, the basic part of the CI agenda is to promote educational and cultural exchanges.
Built in cooperation with local educational institutions, CI courses focus on subjects like traditional Chinese medicine, textiles, vocational education, and Chinese music.
Susan Jain, executive director of the Confucius Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), feels that language programs provide young people from the U.S. with diverse opportunities.
"The Confucius Institute gives our fellows and students exactly what they need to enable them to compete in the international marketplace," said Jain while speaking with Xinhua.
"When American kids learn languages like Mandarin and understand more about foreign cultures, it opens up all kinds of well-paid job opportunities for them and makes them better equipped to compete with applicants from other countries," Jain added.
Charlie Hoffs, a student at the Standford University, while speaking fluently in Chinese during a CI event in September, said her romance with Chinese started with her love for Chinese characters.
A student with his Chinese teacher /VCG Photo
"Then, I gradually realized the language's importance in economy and tourism," she said, adding that "China is a rising power, capable of navigating the business world. So, Chinese is a vital skill."
The Confucius Institute is a major teaching center for about 40,000 people in Spain who study Chinese.
"Thanks to the Confucius Institute ... Now I can explain the history of the city in Chinese," said tour guide Ana Godoy in southern Spain's historic town of Granada, noting that the skill has led to enormous benefits in her career.
"The (Confucius) Institute opens doors. It's no longer possible for any of us, especially young people, not to be involved with China when China plays a major role in our future," said U.S. theater director Peter Sellers, now UCLA professor in world arts and culture.
"Our cultures, our economies, our destinies are irrevocably intertwined," he said.
Sellers' remarks describe the economic situation, especially in participating countries of the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), where cooperation projects have generated inflows of Chinese investment and more local jobs.
It is the understanding of a number of youths in Zambia that learning Chinese can enhance their capabilities and chances to get employed.
Student writing Chinese on a blackboard /VCG Photo
"Very few of them take up practical skills such as learning the Chinese language ... which they can use while looking for a job. That skill can later turn out to be your main job in the long run," said Lytone Chibona, a 22-year-old CI student from the University of Zambia (UNZA).
Even now, competence in Chinese language has helped him and his friend Gift Kunyanda, 19, obtain part-time jobs.
"I have had plenty of job opportunities especially with Chinese-run firms in Zambia. I have sometimes gotten a job almost immediately because I speak Chinese," said Kunyanda, who is "working on being more proficient in Chinese language and culture" so that he could work as a Chinese language teacher and an interpreter in the future.
In 2017, some 6.5 million people worldwide took part in the Chinese proficiency examination for foreigners at various levels, official data showed.