Africa witnesses growing passion for Chinese language

Shaodan, a Chinese teacher of Confucius Institute, teaches Chinese at a secondary school, 40 km east of Pretoria, South Africa, Feb. 25, 2013. In recent years, Africa has witnessed a growing passion for the Chinese language and increasing requests to set up Chinese teaching institutions. To cater to this growing need, China opened the Confucius Institute at the University of Nairobi in 2005, the first of its kind in Africa. The latest figure shows that there are 31 Confucius Institutes and 5 Confucius Classrooms in Africa as of September 2012. (Xinhua/Li Qihua)