U.S. National Chinese Language Conference held in San Diego

The 12th National Chinese Language Conference (NCLC) of the United States kicked off Thursday evening in the coastal city of San Diego in the western U.S. state of California.

More than 1,300 teachers, administrators and policymakers from the United States and seven other countries took part in the three-day event.

People take part in the 12th National Chinese Language Conference (NCLC) in San Diego, the United States, on May 10, 2019. [Photo: Xinhua/Zhao Hanrong]

The NCLC is the largest annual gathering in North America that brings together leaders and practitioners in the fields of Chinese language and culture education and U.S.-China education partnership. It is dedicated to enhancing the capacity for teaching and learning of Chinese language culture by sharing cutting-edge practices and examples with educators and policymakers.

In collaboration with the Confucius Institute Headquarters, this year's event was co-organized by the College Board and Asia Society and is themed "Connecting to a global future."

Exchanges and mutual learning diversify civilizations and facilitate human progress, peace and development, said Ma Jianfei, deputy chief executive of Confucius Institute Headquarters and secretary-general of the International Society for Chinese Language Teaching, at the plenary on Friday.

Over 2 million American students have studied in Confucius Institutes, over 1,300 students have been rewarded Confucius Institute scholarships and 22,000 educators and students have joined trips to China organized by the Confucius Institute Headquarters, according to official statistics.

Attendees browse books during an education exhibition at the 12th National Chinese Language Conference (NCLC) in San Diego, the United States, on May 10, 2019. [Photo: Xinhua/Zhao Hanrong]

"Confucius Institute has made an unparalleled contribution to advance the Chinese language education, meet the demands of studying Chinese language and promote the mutual understanding and people-to-people exchanges between China and the United States," Ma added, noting that it's a vivid example of international collaboration for global education.

"The Confucius Institute Headquarters will ensure each Confucius Institute continues to follow the educational mission; cherish the academic tradition of host countries and global educational concept; respect the autonomy of the host educational institutions; keep open and transparent, comply with the law, regulations and policies; continue to serve people around the world with highest quality of Chinese language educational offerings, and continue to make contributions to advance the global education," Ma noted.

Anthony Jackson, vice president of Education at Asia Society, warned that "American students were dangerously uninformed about international issues, which is particularly glaring in the case of Asia."

Calling this knowledge deficit and the under-appreciation of languages like Mandarin "dangerous," he added that the Asian Society is working hard to promote education in these areas.

"It is through language one acquires understanding and appreciation for the history and culture of a people," he said. "And that is the basis for good judgement as we go forward in the future."