The first annual meeting of US-based Confucius Institutes was held in New York City on January 19th and 20th, where directors and representatives of 21 Confucius Institutes across the US convened. This meeting was hosted by China Institute in America. Officials from the Office of the Chinese Language Council International (Hanban) and the Education Department of Chinese Embassy to the US also attended the meeting.
    Liu Biwei, Education Consul of Chinese Consulate-General in New York was invited to their dinner party held on January 19, where he delivered a heart-warming speech. China Institute in America’s President Sara Judge McCalpin, Director Xu Lin of Hanban and Wang Yin, an officer of the Education Department of Chinese Consulate-General in New York, also addressed them.
    US-based Confucius Institutes had developed rapidly since 2004 when the first one was established. Currently, there are 15 institutes across the US, and 7 to be set up. This meeting is designed to establish a platform for them to communicate and exchange information, carry out academic researches, and pool together resources for further developments.
    At the meeting, directors and representatives introduced their current development projects and plans for future developments. After which participants were divided into groups to discuss issues on Chinese language and cultural programs, teacher training programs, distance learning programs, administrative organization and other possible cooperation among these Confucius Institutes.
    Director Xu Lin of Hanban made the concluding speech, giving explanations to problems face, emphasized various Hanban programs to promote Chinese in the US and the common development projects for Confucius Institutes in 2007. 
    All participants expressed that it is a very timely and important meeting as it plays an important role in guiding the future development of US-based Confucius Institutes.