Language studies refining Sino-Latin American ties

To view China-Latin America relations only through trade, investment and infrastructure is to overlook one of the most significant changes currently in progress. Those aspects matter, of course, but they no longer present the entire picture. A more subtle transformation is taking place across the region — in classrooms, teacher-training programs, academic exchanges and local education policies. Trade builds markets; education builds understanding.

At a time when cooperation among Global South countries is gaining renewed momentum, this shift deserves far more attention. China's engagement with Latin America is no longer measured only by ports, railways or commodity flows. It is increasingly reflected in the expansion of cultural exchanges, including Chinese language education, the localization of teaching practices and the emergence of academic partnerships that can sustain long-term mutual understanding. This is not a peripheral development. It is becoming a pillar of China-Latin America relations.

The State Council Information Office said in May 2025 that, as of that time, China had signed 26 educational cooperation agreements with 19 countries in the Latin American and Caribbean region, established 68 Confucius Institutes or Confucius Classrooms, and provided 17,000 government scholarships and 13,000 training opportunities.

Brazil offers an example of this trend. In September, the first Confucius Institute Alliance in Latin America was inaugurated there, bringing together 14 institutes in the country. It aimed to pool resources, strengthen teaching quality and popularize Chinese learning, while promoting faculty development. A few months later, Rio de Janeiro approved a municipal law for a program to promote teaching of Chinese language and culture in schools and public spaces. These show that Chinese language education is moving beyond classrooms and into the realm of long-term institutional planning.

Argentina provides a particularly telling case. Nearly 17 years after the establishment of the first Confucius Institute at the University of Buenos Aires, the effects of sustained cooperation have both deepened institutionally and multiplied. This is reflected in the four Confucius Institutes in Argentina, as well as in the creation of an undergraduate Chinese teacher training program at the University of Hurlingham, Buenos Aires province — a milestone in the country's language education policy.

This institutional shift is closely connected to what happens in the classroom. I often tell my students about my first days in China over 10 years ago, and how I quickly realized that "Ni hao ma (How are you?)" — commonly taught to foreign learners as a standard greeting — did not work as naturally in everyday interactions. That gap between textbook language and real communication reveals that genuine communication calls for cultural adaptation.

That is precisely why the localization of Chinese teaching in Latin America is essential. As learning expands, pedagogical change is driven by communicative needs. Teachers adjust classroom interactions and pragmatic explanations to local cultural expectations. What begins with a mismatch over greetings can lead to broader reflections on politeness, classroom discourse, humor, social distance and everyday interactions. Language education is no longer about teaching vocabulary and grammar; it is about equipping learners to move between cultures with confidence.

A new generation of Latin American students is engaging with China in more direct and well-informed ways. They are developing their own grounded understanding through language study, academic exchange and educational practice. The emergence of new Sinology in the region is evidence of this shift. This broader transformation is reflected not only in institutional and policy shifts, but also at the highest political level.

President Xi Jinping responded in November to a letter from young Sinologists attending the World Chinese Language Conference, encouraging them to foster mutual understanding between civilizations. In March, he replied again, this time to teachers and students in France, describing Chinese as a key to understanding both ancient and modern China. These replies were not casual gestures. Language education remains a strategic bridge between China and the world.

As China and Latin America continue to deepen their ties, the importance of education will grow. Language and education are not peripheral aspects of this relationship; they are foundational. The future of China-Latin America relations will be shaped by how well they learn to understand each other.

The author is an Argentine linguist and lecturer in international Chinese education at Changchun Normal University in Jilin province. The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.