Approximately 40 million students outside China are being taught Mandarin, said the director of an organization to promote Chinese culture and language Thursday.

On the 10th International Chinese Language Teaching symposium, Xu Lin,director of the Confucius Institute Headquarters, said more people around the world were learning Chinese because of the Confucius Institute.

At present there are 300 Confucius Institutes in 94 countries and regions along with more than 300 Confucius Classrooms.

The symposium is being held in Shenyang, the capital city of northeast China's Liaoning Province, from Wednesday to Friday. The symposium is co-held by Hanban and The International Society for Chinese Language Teaching. More than 400 participants from 38 countries and regions are attending the conference.

Six famous Chinese teaching experts from north America, Europe, Africa, Chinese Mainland and Chinese Taiwan will give speeches on trends and developments of Chinese teaching.

Xu Jialu, president of The International Society for Chinese Language Teaching, said the symposium will enhance the work of international Chinese teaching.

The Confucius Institute is a non-profit institution aimed at expanding the teaching of the Chinese language and promoting Chinese arts, music and philosophy worldwide.

(Xinhua News Agency August 20, 2010)