Chapter One

General Regulations

Article 1. The Confucius Institute’s main objective is to satisfy the demand in different countries and regions of the world to study Chinese language, to deepen knowledge on the Chinese language and culture, to promote exchange and cooperation between China and other countries in teaching and cultural fields, to develop friendly relationships, to promote cultural diversity and, lastly, to establish a harmonious world.

Article 2. These Regulations shall be applied to all Confucius Institutes around the world.

Article 3. The name of the Confucius Institute shall be translated to any language maintaining the Chinese original name.

Article 4. The Confucius Institute is an non-profit educative organism.

Article 5. The Confucius Institute promotes the teaching of Chinese overseas, ass well as exchange and cooperation in culture and education between China and other countries, based on the principles of mutual respect, friendly council, equality and
mutual benefit.

Article 6. The Confucius Institute shall observe the laws and regulations of the places where it has been registered, respect the cultural and educational traditions as well as their social customs, and cannot infringe the Chinese concerning laws.

Article 7. The Confucius Institute shall not participate in any activity whose objective can contradict its principles.

Article 8. The Confucius Institute programme may be flexible and variable, according to the needs and particularities in each country and region.

Article 9. Any legal body with the power to teach and promote Chinese language and cultural exchange, and which fulfils the conditions for the participants which are specified within these Regulations, may request the General Office of the Confucius Institute the foundation of a subsidiary in their locality.

Article 10. In Chinese language teaching, standard characters and Mandarin Chinese are employed.

Chapter Two

Scope of business

Article 11. The services provided by the Confucius Institute are listed below:

•    Chinese Teaching
•    Chinese teachers training and teaching resources supervision.
•    Chinese placement tests and grade authentication for Chinese teachers.
•    Offering information on Chinese culture and education.
•     Carrying out activities aimed at language and culture exchanges between China and other countries.

Chapter Three

The General Office

Article 12. The Confucius Institute is an non-profit educative organism with an independent legal body. It owns the rights of the Confucius Institute’s title, logo and brand and is in charge of the administration and orientation of all the subsidiaries
around the world. The General Office is located in Beijing.

Article 13. The General Office of the Confucius Institute there is a Board which comprises a president, a vice president, executive councillors and common councils. There is a president, several vice presidents and executive councillors, who are proposed by the education administrative department within the Council of State and afterwards authorised by the Council of State itself. There are also 15 common councillors, out of whom 10 are chief councillors of the overseas Confucius Institutes who were previously hired by the General Office. In the following editions, they shall be chosen or assumed on an alternative way depending on the order of foundation of each Institute. The other five Common Councillors are representative of China’s cooperative institutions, directly hired by the General Office. The councillors’ terms are 2 years long; reelection is allowed once. Members of the Council cannot earn money from the General Office during their charge. Within the Council, we also find the General Administrative Officer and the General Administrative Deputy Secretary. The first one is the legal representative of the General Office, as he assumes the role of an executive councillor.

Article 14. The Councillor’s responsibilities are: elaborating and modifying the Institute Confucius Regulations, considering and discussing the strategy and planning of the Institute around the globe, considering and discussing the annual work report and the yearly work plan created by the General Office, as well as researching relevant issues in the Institute’s organisation.

Article 15. Each year, the Council holds a plenary session called by the President. When necessary, the president may decide hosting an extraordinary plenary session or a conference with the executive councillors.

Article 16. The General Office of the Confucius Institute fulfils the routine issues under the Council’s direction. Its responsibilities are:

•    Preparing a planning on the Institute’s building and the assessment criteria.
•     Examine and approve the founding of new Institutes.
•     Examine and approve the annual executive plan for projects and the budget and balance in all Institutes.
•     Direct and assess the teaching activities of each Institutes and control the quality and functioning of teaching.
•    Providing teaching resources and all concerning services to all Institutes.
•     Choose and send directors and teachers of Chinese part, and form the administration staff and teachers.
•     Call and organise the Annual Congress of Confucius Institute.
•     Develop the system for the fund administration and active of Chinese part.

Article 17. The General Office establishes a commission of specific matters dedicated to the queries offer for the General Office. The commission members are employed by the General Office.

Article 18. The General Office’s responsibilities are employing persons, both Chinese people and foreign people, to work as advisers.

Chapter Four

Foundation

Article 19. The establishment’s applicant of the Institute must have the following conditions:

•     The applicant body must be a legal entity with legitimate registration in its locality, and it must have resources to carry out the teaching, the cultural and educational interchange and the offer of public services.
•     At the locality of the applicant body there must be demand for the study of the Chinese language and its culture.
•     There must be staff, on-premise, facilities and necessary equipment for the school organization.
•     There must be indispensable funds and a stable source of economic resources for the school organization.

Article 20. The applicant must send the requisition to General Office, in which there must be the following data:

•     Requisition letter signed and sent by the responsible for the applicant body.
•     Review of the applicant body, certificate of registration and introduction of the applicant body.
•     The on-premise, the facilities and equipments aiming to the teaching for the Institute.
•    The prediction about the market demand, the administration mechanism and operating plan.
•     Financing and fund administration.
•     Other data demanded by General Office.

Article 21. The General Office of Confucius Institute studies the requisition data offered by the applicant, whose forms cover the verified documents, the personal interview to give report at the locality, the consultation to the experts, etc.

Article 22. Once the General Office authorises, the contract is signed with the applicant and it gives the identification plate of Confucius Institute.

Chapter Five

Found

Article 23. The Chinese part invests a part of the start fund for the newly founded Confucius Institutes based on the co-operation between the Chinese part and the foreign part. The annual fund of the projects is financed by the foreign organizing entity together with the Chinese part. Generally the percentage that occupies each part for the financing is 1:1.

Article 24. The offered fund by the Chinese part is regulated by the project management, whose realisation is according to the Administrative Procedure of the Fund Offered by the Chinese Part for the Confucius Institute.

Chapter Six

Administration

Article 25. A Council is installed at the Confucius Institute that, if the foundation approves the co-operation modality between the Chinese part and the foreign part, must be formed by member of both parts, with number of persons and proportion of constitution decided by bilateral negotiations.

Article 26. The Council of Confucius Institute is responsible for considering and discussing the development planning of the Institute, the yearly plan of work, the report with a summary at the end of the last year, the project execution plan and its budgets and
balances, and employing or firing the director or subdirector.

The contracting and the dismissal of the director or subdirector must be archived in the General Office. If the foundation approves the co-operation modality between the Chinese part and the foreign part, the contracting of the director and subdirector must be decided by the negotiations between both parts.

Article 27. The director’s liability system, under the Committee’s direction is applied to the Confucius Institute The director is in charge of the functioning and management of the Institute.

Article 28. The Director of the Confucius Institute must know the national conditions of China, be fluent in the local language, have experience in administration adapted to this position, have some skills for public relations and market exploitation.

Article 29. Those teachers controlled by the Institute must have a professional level and the necessary pedagogic skills for this position.

Article 30. The Confucius Institute must complete the implementation of projects and their budget within the set interval and the report on the carrying out of the projects and their balance, all of them having been authorised by the General office. Modification and disposal of assesses from the Chinese part must be authorised by the General Office The annual work plan and the summary report at the end of the year must also be filed in the General Office.

Article 31. The Confucius Institute is a non-lucrative organism, so all of its deposit is addressed to the teaching and services improvement. The accumulated assets are dedicates to the long-term development of the Institute, and can never be diverted for other purposes.

Article 32. The General Office of the Confucius Institute is responsible for organising the evaluation of all of the affiliated Institute. In those cases where the Institutes don’t approve its purpose of activities, or don’t achieve with the criteria for the teaching quality, the General office has the right to end the agreement.

Article 33. The General Office of Confucius Institute carries out the Annual Congress to make easier the experience interchange of the teaching and the study of the organization and development of the Institute.

Chapter Seven

Rights and Liabilities

Article 34. The rights of the Confucius Institute are:

•     All rights established in the present Statute and the agreement.
•     Right to the use of the title and mark of the Institute.
•     Preferential right to obtain the cultural and teaching resources offered by the General Office.

Article 35. The responsibilities of the Confucius Institute are:

•     Observation of the present Statute and the agreement.
•     Defence of the prestige and image of the Institute.
•     Acceptance of the direction and evaluation of the General Office.

Article 36. The General Office of the Confucius Institute has right to claim the responsibility of the following conducts, according to the legislation:

•     Found the Confucius Institute without permission of the General Office.
•     Carry out activities in the name of the Institute without permission.
•     Violate that established in the present Statute and the agreement, by causing the fund loss or actives and damaging the prestige of the Institute.

Chapter Eight

Appendix

Article 37. The affiliated Institutes may prepare its own rules and institutions, according to the present Statute. The rules and institutions must be archived in the General Office.

Article 38. The schedule and the management of the classes are regulated by the Statute.

Article 39. The General Office of the Confucius Institute is responsible for organising the explanation of the present Statute.

Article 40. The General Office of the Confucius Institute come into force form its authorisation by the Council of the General Office of Confucius Institute.

Source: spanish.hanban.org