A senior Communist Party official said on Tuesday the Confucius institutes around the world should provide high-quality Chinese education to overseas learners.

"Education will help foreigners better understand China," said Li Changchun, member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) when visiting the Beijing-based headquarters of Confucius Institute.

Confucius institutes are non-profit education organizations founded since 2004 to publicize Chinese language and culture. More than 140 Confucius institutes and schools have been set up in more than 50 countries and regions.

Li said the institutes allow learners of Chinese to improve their language abilities and their understanding of Chinese people and culture.

Foreigners are enthusiastic about learning about China and the institutes should meet that demand, he said.

Online access to Chinese learning materials should be available and the construction of TV and radio networks should be accelerated, Li added.

He also urged the institutes to publish better Chinese textbooks for overseas learners and step up teacher recruitment.

(Xinhua News Agency April 25, 2007)