International Chinese education conference held in Kunming

(ECNS) -- The 2026 "Understanding Contemporary China" International Chinese Education Conference and Annual Academic Meeting of the Virtual Teaching and Research Center opened in Kunming, southwest China's Yunnan Province, on Thursday.

The event brought together more than 200 experts and scholars from over 100 universities at Yunnan Normal University.

The "Understanding Contemporary China" textbook series has been adopted by more than 200 universities. The conference also saw the release of the International Chinese Education Professional Spectrum 1.0.

Beijing Normal University professor Liu Li said teaching material development should strengthen theoretical grounding and concept building. Wuhan University associate professor Liu Shu proposed an integrated approach combining language acquisition with understanding of China's national context. Yunnan Normal University professor Guo Zhongli called for a shift from simply "telling about China" to guiding students to explore the country through active engagement.

(By Tang Yuxian)