2025 World Chinese Language Conference Explores a New Ecosystem for International Chinese Language Education

From November 14 to 16, 2025, the World Chinese Language Conference was held at the China National Convention Center in Beijing. Organized by the Ministry of Education and co-hosted by the Center for Language Education and Cooperation (CLEC), the Chinese International Education Foundation, and the International Society for Chinese Language Teaching, the event brought together experts from around the world to explore innovative pathways and future prospects for international Chinese education in the AI era. Under the theme “Innovation Leads, AI Empowers: Learning Chinese without Borders,” the conference focused on how technology can reshape and advance the field.

The conference showcased a range of innovative digital products for global Chinese education. A standout was the "Chinese Smart Classroom," co-developed by the Center for Language Education and Cooperation (CLEC) and iFLYTEK. By integrating cutting-edge AI like multilingual translation and speech assessment, it introduces a collaborative "virtual teacher + human teacher" model. This system provides comprehensive, intelligent support throughout the entire teaching process.

At the China Overseas Language & Culture Forum and a parallel session on "Building a Borderless Online and Offline Integrated Chinese Language Learning Ecosystem," iFLYTEK Vice President Wang Zhanglong detailed the concept and practical implementation of the Chinese Smart Classroom. Developed under the guidance of the Center for Language Education and Cooperation (CLEC) and powered by iFLYTEK Spark Large Language Model, the system establishes a "dual-teacher" framework. In this model, a virtual Chinese teacher leads instruction while local teachers co-teach, operating in a multilingual environment to provide end-to-end intelligent support across lesson preparation, in-class teaching, and after-class practice.

The system tracks student progress to analyze their grasp of knowledge points and language proficiency, tailoring instructional strategies and recommending personalized resources accordingly. The virtual teacher facilitates real-time multilingual interaction, with its deep reasoning capabilities and expert-level Q&A ensuring both the accuracy and professionalism of the educational content.

This innovative solution has achieved remarkable results in pilot deployments worldwide. It has been successfully deployed in over 270 institutions across China, including the China University of Petroleum (East China), East China Normal University, and Chengdu University, and has seen extensive application in more than 300 institutions abroad, spanning countries such as Japan, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, Egypt, and South Korea. By using this platform, schools are boosting classroom interaction, sparking students' interest in Chinese, and increasing speaking rates. This initiative effectively helps every student gain the confidence to speak Chinese and is driving the digital and intelligent transformation of international Chinese education.

The Chinese Smart Classroom is a key outcome of the "the Joint Digital-Intelligence Lab," co-founded by the Center for Language Education and Cooperation (CLEC) and iFLYTEK. The lab was officially unveiled at the parallel session on "Building a Borderless Online and Offline Integrated Chinese Language Learning Ecosystem" by CLEC Deputy Director Yu Tianqi and iFLYTEK Vice President Wang Zhanglong. By leveraging CLEC's strategic guidance and iFLYTEK's leading R&D capabilities and market insights, the lab is positioned to drive global Chinese education toward a new era of intelligent development.

Looking ahead, as AI technology continues to advance and new applications emerge, the Chinese Smart Classroom will further enhance the global Chinese learning ecosystem. It is poised to deliver an ever more intelligent, efficient, and immersive experience for learners worldwide, bringing us closer to the vision of a world with "zero distance" to the Chinese language.