BEIJING, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- China will deepen the reform of Confucius Institutes by raising the quality of education, improving systems, and offering more innovative programs, according to an article carried by Wednesday's China Education Daily.

The distribution of Confucius Institutes will be optimized and they will have more flexible and diversified classes, said the article under the byline of Ma Jianfei, deputy chief executive of Confucius Institute Headquarters.

"With that they will vigorously support Chinese language teaching in overseas elementary and middle schools, and provide more quality teaching services," Ma said.

Local faculty will be improved with strengthened support from China. More Chinese deans and teachers will be employed, said Ma.

Confucius Institutes are encouraged to launch various cultural activities, expand the Confucius China Studies Program and run contests such as Chinese Bridge.

Ma also noted that the institutes should intensify communication and exchanges between China and the rest of the world, and learn from the achievements of foreign countries.

Confucius Institutes have been playing the role of overseas Chinese cultural ambassadors since 2004. A total of 516 Confucius Institutes and 1,076 related courses have been established in 142 countries and regions, receiving more than 9 million students, said Ma.

In 2017 alone, over 12.7 million people participated in cultural events organized by Confucius Institutes across the world.