""In middle school, I watched Chinese TV channels and dreamed of traveling to China and getting to know the culture," she told DW. "So I studied Chinese ... and attended courses for three years to gain a professional qualification in Chinese," she adds with an unmistakable sense of pride in her voice. After finishing school, Tchekpo enrolled at the Confucius Institute China's government-run institute for the promotion of its language and culture at the University of Abomey-Calavi in Benin."
""Since 2004, when the Confucius Institute was first founded, Beijing has been investing rather heavily in the worldwide expansion and export of its culture. In Africa alone, there are Confucius Institutes offering courses in 49 countries. "One of the ways in which China is expanding its soft power on the African continent is not only economic, but also socio-cultural, especially through the spread of Chinese language teaching," says Simbarashe Gukurume, a social scientist and lecturer at Sol Plaatje University in Kimberley, South Africa."
Miradie Tchekpo secured a job as an interpreter for a Chinese trading company in Benin after studying Chinese and completing three years of professional courses. She enrolled at the Confucius Institute at the University of Abomey-Calavi and aims to develop international trade linking Beninese tropical products to China and Chinese products to Benin and potentially the rest of Africa. Since 2004, Confucius Institutes have expanded globally as part of Beijing's cultural outreach, with Chinese language courses offered in 49 African countries. Chinese language teaching functions as a socio-cultural channel that extends China’s soft power across the continent.
Read at www.dw.com
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