Confucius Institute - Organization

Organization

Hanban states on its website that it is a non-government organization, though it is connected with the Ministry of Education and has close ties to a number of senior Communist Party officials. The current chair of Hanban is Politburo member Liu Yandong, whose former postings include the head of the United Front Work Department.

The Chinese Government shares the burden of funding Confucius Institutes with host universities, and takes a hands-off approach to management. The Institutes function independently within the guidelines established by Hanban and the Confucius Institute headquarters. Each Institute is responsible for drawing up and managing their own budget which is subject to approval by the headquarters. Confucius Institute headquarters provides various restrictions on how their funds may be used including earmarking funds for specific purposes. Institutes in the United States are generally provided with $100,000 annually from Hanban, with the local university required to match funding.

In addition to their local partner university Confucius Institutes operate in co-operation with a Chinese partner university. Many Institutes are governed by a board which is composed of several members from the Chinese partner school and the remainder of the members are affiliated with the local partner university. At most Institutes the director is appointed by the local partner university.