In the morning of June 19th, 2012, Mr. Francesco Profumo, Italian Minister of Education, Universities and Research visited Beijing Foreign Studies University (BFSU). He was presented the summer camp program for the Confucius Classroom (CC) at Convitto Nazionale "Vittorio Emanuele 2" di Rome and watched the performance of students learning Chinese.

From June 4th to 23rd, over 100 Italian middle school students came to BFSU for the Chinese language summer camp, the largest program of its kind ever sponsored by Hanban. Jointly held by BFSU and University of Rome La Sapienza for three years in a row, it has attracted more than 220 participants to China, bringing with them the positive feedback among Italian. Among his busy schedule, Mr. Profumo paid a special visit to the university and the summer camp in particular. He also met with Prof. Yang Xueyi, President of BFSU's University Council and Mr. Ma Yansheng, Vice-President of BFSU, both of whom shared their sincere desire for stronger ties with Italian educational institutions.

Acknowledging Hanban for their great support, the minister in his remarks also pointed out that Confucius Institutes in Italy had boosted Chinese language education in his country and Convitto Nazionale "Vittorio Emanuele 2" di Rome was the first middle school offering Chinese language course as a compulsory subject. He said that as a demonstration project in Italy, such a Confucius Classroom was really influential and such a model was worth of expanding. According to his words, the government of Italy is committed to joining hands with Chinese Ministry of Education and Hanban in particular to create more opportunities for the exchanges between the middle school students in both sides.

In the fabulous performance, the Italian children sang such famous Chinese songs as the Friends and the Sweet Honey, and they are joined by BFSU students in Italian major who offered well-known situation comedies in Italy.

The minister as well as all teachers and students there were deeply impressed by the show which ended in joy and applauses. These events have further informed the coming Italian government officials about the Chinese language instruction in Confucius Classrooms, leaving with them a memory of the Confucius Institutes' significant role in promoting the language overseas.