BEIJING, Dec. 12 (Xinhua) -- China's Confucius Institutes and Confucius Classrooms received about 655,000 registered students in 108 countries and regions this year, according to the organization's headquarters.

The Confucius Institute and Confucius Classrooms, both named for the ancient Chinese philosopher Confucius, serve as non-profit public institutions aiming to promote Chinese language and culture in foreign countries.

Currently, 400 Confucius Institutes and over 500 Confucius Classrooms have been established across the world, said a statement from the Confucius Institute Headquarters on Wednesday.

In addition, those facilities hosted a wide range of cultural exchange activities in 2012, attracting a total of 9.48 million participants to over 16,000 events, said the statement.

The document also revealed that at the upcoming 7th Confucius Institute Conference in Beijing, representatives from foreign universities and Confucius Institutes will focus on topics such as future development plans, training for Chinese teachers and evaluating the effectiveness of the curriculum.

The conference is scheduled for Dec. 16 to 18.