China plans to "optimize" the spread of its controversial Confucius Institutes, the government said, institutions to promote Chinese language and culture that have been criticized by some for spreading Communist Party influence.
In 2004, China began setting up the government-run bodies, whose stated mission is to satisfy soaring global demand to learn Chinese.
But they have drawn criticism, especially in the United States, for being little more than a propaganda arm of the ruling Communist Party, assertions denied by both the institutes and the government.