Confucius Institutes, as non-profit education organizations, is established to promote the teaching of Chinese as a foreign language and for different exchanges and co-operations, such as in educational and cultural fields, with the world. The services offered by Confucius Institute include: Chinese language teaching; training Chinese language instructors and providing Chinese language teaching resources; holding the HSK examination (Chinese Proficiency Test) and tests for the Certification of the Chinese Language Teachers.
As of Oct 2009,396 Confucius Institutes (Classrooms) in 87 countries and regions have been established. Each Confucius Institute took advantage of its own uniqueness to develop rich and diverse educational and cultural activities. Now to further satisfy the need of Chinese learners, Confucius Institute Online provides Chinese online studies with more convenience and flexibility.
Confucius Institute Online offers video and audio courses in large amount and good quality. For each lesson, there will be a certain topic. Unlike some good quality online Chinese learning provider such as Chineseathome, Confucius Institute Online offers courses of no interactiveness and little continuity in learning.