With the acceleration of global economic and multi-cultural development, there are increasing exchanges and cooperation between China and other countries . Chinese, as an important tool for other countries to know China and a cultural carrier, has been highly valued by more and more governments and their societies. Presently, the number of people learning Chinese all over the world exceeds 30 million, with more than 100 countries offering Chinese courses in various educational intuitions. Many countries have a great demand for Chinese language teachers. In order to help these countries solve the problem of shortage of Chinese language teachers, The Office of Chinese Language Council International (Hanban) has implemented the "Program of Chinese Volunteers to Teach Chinese in Foreign Countries" since 2004. In 2006, Hanban again formulated the "Program of International Overseas Volunteer Chinese Language Teachers" (hereinafter referred as "Overseas Volunteer Program").

The mission of the Overseas Volunteer Program is the recruitment of qualified foreign citizens, overseas Chinese, and exchange students to volunteer as Chinese language teachers in order to improve foreigners' understanding of Chinese language and culture and strengthen the exchange and friendship between the Chinese and people of other countries at the same time.

The Overseas Volunteer Program is initiated and operated by Hanban. Education (cultural) offices of Chinese embassies in foreign countries are commissioned by Hanban to instruct authorized organizations in charge of recruiting, screening, training and employing of overseas volunteers, signing contracts, consultation, outlay payment and routine administration work.

 The basic qualifications for international overseas volunteer Chinese language teachers are: legal resident status in the country of residence; voluntarily committed to the teaching of Chinese language; a spirit of devotion; minimum Bachelor's degree from accredited universities; eligible Mandarin proficiency; between 22 to 60 years old; healthy and moral; no criminal record; Chinese teaching experience and skills; and local language communicative competency.

Any qualified applicants can get an Overseas Volunteer Teachers Application Form by downloading it from the official Hanban website (www.hanban.edu.cn) or obtain a hardcopy from authorized organizations, and apply.