Confucius institutes in the US: Platform of promoting China’s soft power

Abstract This study examines the driving force behind China’s “soft power” strategy and how Confucius Institute (CI) fits in the strategy. Drawing on data from the large-scale international surveys from PewResearchCenter and the ten Hanban /CI annual reports (2006–2015), the study finds that China’s outreach through CI has increased the understanding between China and other countries and built a favored image of “a responsible big nation” in the international community. The study shows that, by December 2015, there were 500 CIs and 1,000 Confucius Classrooms (CCs) in 134 countries/regions in the world. Collectively, they offered a total of 211,500 classes and registered over 5 million students from 2006 to 2015. They also attracted 94.27 million participants for cultural exchanges and 23.73 million participants for Chinese language tests in the same time period. Data from the researcher’s 3-month-long field study on two CCs shows that the Chinese language and culture are successfully promoted in American schools and exerting tremendous attraction to students, parents, and communities.