Brazil Unifies Its Confucius Institutes Under New National Network;
UFG Represents Country in Global AI Forums
On September 12th, 2025, the Network of Confucius Institutes in Brazil was officially established, marking an important milestone in strengthening academic and cultural cooperation between Brazil and China. The proposal for its creation originated from the Confucius Institute at UNESP, which also hosted the inaugural meeting. On that occasion, it was decided that Professor Luís Antônio Paulino, from UNESP, would assume the presidency of the Network.
The event was marked by broad institutional and diplomatic representation, bringing together Brazilian and Chinese directors of the Confucius Institutes operating in the country, as well as various authorities from both China and Brazil. Among those in attendance were the Minister of the Embassy of the People's Republic of China, the Acting Consul General of the Consulate General of China in São Paulo, the Director-General of the Center for Language Education and Cooperation (CLEC) in Beijing, along with the Rector of UNESP, the Rector of UnB, the Vice-Rectors of UEPA, UEMA, UFBA, UFC, and UFT.
Currently, Brazil has 14 Confucius Institutes – located at UNESP, UFG, PUC-RIO, UEPA, UFBA, UFC, UFF, UFMG, UFRGS, UFRJ, UnB, Unicamp, UPE, and FAAP – and one Chinese Center at UFMT. Together, they form a national network dedicated to ‘promoting the Chinese language and culture, as well as fostering academic and scientific exchange between the two countries.
Subsequently, on October 10th, 2025, the first online meeting of the Council of the Network of Confucius Institutes in Brazil was held. The main objectives of the meeting were to approve the 2026 Work Plan and to elect the two vice-presidents of the Network, as established in its Statute. Following deliberations, Professor Francisco José Quaresma de Figueiredo, Director of the Confucius Institute for Chinese Medicine at UFG, and Professor Antônio Braga, Director of the Confucius Institute at UEPA, were elected to join the Network’s leadership alongside the president.
The strengthening of this organizational structure represents a significant step toward consolidating the presence of the Confucius Institutes in Brazil, expanding opportunities for interinstitutional cooperation and broadening the reach of initiatives aimed at Chinese language teaching and the promotion of intercultural dialogue.
The Confucius Institutes have as their main objective the dissemination of the Chinese language and culture, and some of them, such as the Confucius Institute of Chinese Medicine at the Federal University of Goiás, in addition to offering courses on the Chinese language and culture, also provide courses in the area of Chinese Medicine. Every year, a major global event is held in which new methods and approaches for teaching Mandarin are discussed – the World Chinese Language Conference, which took place in Beijing from November 14th to 16th 2025. The event is attended by directors of Confucius Institutes around the world, as well as the President or Vice-President of the institutions responsible for each Confucius Institute. This year’s theme was “Innovation Leads, AI Empowers: Learning Chinese Without Borders.”
The use of Artificial Intelligence in Mandarin teaching was also discussed at another event held in Hong Kong from November 16th to 17th – the Global Confucius Institutes Hong Kong Forum, organized by The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, with the theme “Exploring New Opportunities for Cooperation among Confucius Institutes in the Era of AI.” The event was attended by 150 invited participants from various Confucius Institutes in 69 countries. The Confucius Institute of Chinese Medicine at UFG represented Brazil at this event.
Prof. Francisco José Quaresma de Figueiredo
Brazilian Dean of the Confucius Institute for Chinese Medicine at UFG
Vice-President of the Network of Confucius Institutes in Brazil