Confucius Institute to close in Sweden

The first Confucius Institute established in Europe will close in June, following a decade in operation, after an agreement between the Chinese government-backed language and culture body and Stockholm University that expired at the end of 2014.

The announcement made by the university on Jan 7 came as the latest blow to the institute, which to many foreigners is their first introduction to China, following US universities raising questions about it last year.

The Confucius Institute Headquarters was not made available for comment on Monday.

As the agreement signed in 2005 expired at the end of 2014 and will not be renewed, the Confucius Institute at Stockholm University will close on 30 June, according to a statement on the university's website.

"The situation is different today compared with ten years ago. At that time the institute created an opening for increased contact with China, which was important to us. Today we have a completely different level of academic exchange with China, which makes this collaboration redundant," said the university's Vice-Chancellor Astrid Söderbergh Widding.

"Generally speaking, establishing institutes that are funded by another nation, within the framework of a university, is rather a questionable practice," she said in a comment to the Swedish daily newspaper Dagens Nyheter.

Deriving its name from the renowned philosopher Confucius (551-479 BC), the first Confucius Institute was established in 2004 as part of the nonprofit organization's efforts to teach the Chinese language and culture.

By October 2014, 471 Confucius Institutes, through cooperation with universities, and 730 Confucius Classrooms, had been set up in 125 countries or regions worldwide.

The institute in Stockholm focuses on providing part-time evening courses in Chinese, and about 3,000 people had joined the cultural activities launched by the institute, according to the website of Confucius Institute Headquarters.

But concerns were raised in some countries that China's government was funding dozens of institutes to increase the economic giant's soft power and influence universities' academic freedom.

When responding to the University of Chicago's plan to suspend its relationship with the institute, the Foreign Ministry said last year that the institutes did not threaten the academic freedom and integrity of universities.

The ministry also said the institutes around the world were established by universities voluntarily, urging relevant sides to "abandon prejudice".

Sun Xiaochen contributed to this story.