China has become Asia’s most popular destination for overseas students, said Li Hai, deputy director of the Department of International Cooperation and Exchange of China’s Ministry of Education, at a press conference on Sept. 28.

　　9月28日，教育部国际合作与交流司副司长李海在教育部发布会上称，我国已经成为亚洲最大留学目的国。

　　According to Li, China has stepped onto a new stage of two-way student exchanges. A total of 545,000 Chinese students studied overseas in 2016, while 443,000 international students came to China, up 36.2% and 35.1%, respectively.

　　据李海介绍，中国的双向留学工作迈上了新台阶。2016年出国留学人员达54.5万人，来华留学人员44.3万人，分别增长了36.2%、35.1%。

　　In addition, the country saw 433,000 overseas returnees in the last year, and they have become a major force that promotes China’s education, economy, and culture.

　　此外，去年有43.3万留学人员回国，他们已成为我国教育、经济、文化等领域的重要生力军。

　　By the end of 2016, China established cooperative partnerships with 188 countries and regions, and signed agreements of mutual recognition of degrees with 47 countries and regions.

　　截至2016年底，我国与188个国家和地区建立了教育合作关系，与47个国家和地区签署了学历学位互认协议。

　　The country has also built high-level cultural exchange mechanisms with Russia, the U.S., the U.K., the European Union, France, Indonesia, South Africa, and Germany. Cultural communication is now one of the three major diplomatic pillars, together with political mutual trust and economic cooperation.

　　我国已先后与俄罗斯、美国、英国、欧盟、法国、印度尼西亚、南非、德国建立起高级别人文交流机制。人文交流已与政治互信、经贸合作一道成为我国外交的三大支柱。

　　Li introduced that China established 512 Confucius Institutes in 140 countries and regions by the first half of 2017, offering courses to 2.1 million students.

　　他还介绍说，截至2017年6月，我国已在全球140个国家和地区建立了512所孔子学院。

　　Now, more than 170 countries offer Chinese courses, 67 of which have incorporated Chinese into their national education systems. The number of non-native Chinese learners has reached 100 million worldwide.

　　现在，有170多个国家开设汉语课程，其中67个国家将汉语教学纳入国民教育体系，全球学习使用汉语的人数达到1亿人。