In China, this media push is known as "soft power." While many believe editorial restrictions will prevent Chinese media from competing on a world stage, it already reaches a wide audience. Over 2.5 million copies of China Daily's advertising supplement have been distributed in The Washington Post, The New York Times, and the U.K. Daily Telegraph.

Fundamentally, this relationship between the world’s largest and the world’s oldest democracy is very sound. It is not only being carried out on a government-to-government level, but a business level, a cultural level, a professional level, a people-to-people level. So I am very confident that this relationship will only get deeper and broader as time goes by.

Irish students will be able to take Chinese as a Leaving Certificate exam subject, a key step in efforts to boost Ireland’s marketability in the world’s fastest growing major economy...There is a growing awareness elsewhere in Europe that learning Chinese will give students an edge in the job market of the future.

MU’s branch of the Confucius Institute has signed a one-year deal with the North Callaway School district in Kingdom city, Missouri to introduce Kindergarten through 8th grade students to Chinese culture and language.

Recognizing the role coaches play in empowering women and girls through sports, the U.S. Department of State announced today a soccer exchange program that will bring 11 Egyptian soccer coaches to the United States May 9-21, 2012, to work alongside their American counterparts.

The State Department has announced some much-awaited changes to the Summer Work Travel Program, made after a review process stemming from revelations that some international students had been exploited during their participation.