The Chinese Language and Culture Education Foundation of China (CLCEF) on Monday received a donation of 90 million yuan (US$13.2 million) to encourage more overseas Chinese youth to study China's language and culture.

The donation was jointly made by five enterprises. Rongqiao Group, a real estate company, donated 50 million yuan and other four contributed 10 million respectively.

A spokesman with the CLCEF said that the overall donation would be used in training qualified teachers for overseas Chinese communities, providing scholarships and grants to encourage young overseas Chinese to learn the language and culture that has a history of more than 5,000 years.

According to the foundation, many overseas Chinese who are longing to study and inherit Chinese culture have limited sources in local communities such as insufficiency of money and teachers.

"The profound Chinese culture is a bond linking the hearts and minds of all Chinese with the nation. So it's of great importance to carry forward Chinese culture education," said Zhao Yang, deputy director of the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the State Council.

Aiming to support the overseas education of Chinese language and culture, the non-profit foundation was established in September 2004 under the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the State Council.

(Xinhua News Agency November 17, 2009)