Tania Meneses, a physician working in Lisbon who studied Chinese through an online training course offered by the Ministry of Education's Center for Language Education and Cooperation, noted that she did research on Traditional Chinese Medicine and its theory of nursing.

"Chinese courses online consolidated my foundations, and thus I could help more Chinese patients through my fluent Chinese and wider cultural understanding as the numbers of Chinese patients rises here," she said.

Djauhari Oratmangun, Indonesia's ambassador to China, said: "China's the Belt and Road Initiative, and Indonesia's Global Maritime Axis strategy, have boosted civil and cultural communications between the two countries. Learning Chinese has become popular in Indonesia, and Chinese has become a frequently used foreign language in the country."

Wang Shangxue, former director of the Thailand Maritime Silk Road Confucius Institute, which is run by Tianjin Normal University, said, "In-depth Chinese learning associated with occupational skills, such as high-speed rail, electronic machinery and e-commerce, is becoming more popular around the world.

"AI-driven Chinese teaching methods and a growing number of livestreaming courses have become new driving forces, while more diverse training institutions including universities and companies are taking part in the international Chinese teaching sector," she said.

Statistics from the center show that its Chinese learning platform has provided online training to 20 million users from around 200 countries and regions, as well as services to 5,000 organizations since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Since the outbreak began, the platform has given 340 courses and more than 16,000 classes.

The center provided combined scholarships to 23,000 students, ranging from undergraduates to doctoral students.

It also offered training to some 20,000 international Chinese teachers and organizers.