While the first phase researched Confucius Institutes at African universities, the second phase of the project focuses on African Confucius Institutes students who live, learn and work in China. The project investigates if and in which ways the training at Confucius Institutes prepares its students for their stay in China and which narratives of China are presented to African audiences.

Two topics are of particular interest here: firstly the project is concerned with the question what potential discrepancies between the imaginaries of China in Africa and the Chinese reality are observed by African Confucius Institute students in China. Secondly the project investigates what personal options Confucius Institutes present to their African students in China and how the work of Confucius Institutes as part of China’s soft power strategy contributes to the emergence of new transregional spaces of education.