The Confucius Institute in Portugal was awarded “Model Confucius Institute” status at an event held on the 13th of June in north China’s Tianjin Municipality.

The Confucius Institute of the University of Lisbon, established by the University of Lisbon and Tianjin University of Foreign Studies in 2008, is the first in Portugal to receive this title.

The rector of the University of Lisbon, Luís Ferreira, points out that the Confucius Institute has been active for 15 years, having trained around 20,000 Chinese language students of all ages and backgrounds, with the aim of promoting communication in Chinese, deepening international understanding of the Chinese language and culture, and fostering interpersonal exchange between China and the rest of the world. The ICUL registers the participation of more than 90 thousand people in the various cultural activities it promotes and more than 100 students supported with international scholarships to study in China.

(Source: University of Lisbon website)