China will host World Chinese Conference in Beijing from July 20 to 22 and invite more than 300 officials and scholars to discuss "the Development of Chinese in a Multi-cultural World," said Chinese senior official Wednesday in Beijing.

Zhang Xinsheng, vice-minister of education, told reporters at a press conference that the conference was the first and the highest level meeting of its type since China launched the overseas Chinese teaching program in 1951.

Zhang, also deputy director of the State Leading Group for Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language, said the demand for overseas Chinese teaching has surged as China's contact with the outside world has increased.

"The growth speed of the demand far exceeded what we expected, as more and more governmental administrations in various countries have listed Chinese language as compulsory course for second language learning," he added.

Since it adopted the policy of opening itself to the outside world in the late 1970s, Zhang said, China has attracted a great amount of foreign business investment. A growing number of foreigners travel to China as tourists and some even chose to work and live in China. This increased attention has made the Chinese language a necessary tool for commercial use.

A survey showed that more than 2,500 primary and middle schools in the United States have launched or are planning to set up Chinese course. Currently, more than 20,000 people are Chinese teachers in southeast Asia while the number is still inefficient.

"We use Chinese as the mother tongue and so we are duty bound to try every means possible to build up a quality Chinese teaching database and lend rich resources to worldwide Chinese teaching," said Zhang.

Increasing Chinese education also aims to strengthen inter- cultural communication and understanding.

According to Zhang, the conference will include three sessions, namely, Multi-cultural Communication and the Demand for the Chinese Language," "Operational Mechanisms for Chinese Teaching and Learning in the New Era," "Prospects for the Development of Second Language Education in the World."

To date, more than 200 participants from 70 countries have confirmed their attendance.

Source: Xinhua