BEIJING, May 29 (Xinhua) -- A total of 6.5 million foreigners took Chinese language tests in 2017, up 8.33 percent from 2016, according to the Ministry of Education Tuesday.

The growth indicates that the Chinese language has become more international, said Tian Lixin, a senior ministry official, at a press conference.

China has now hosted Chinese language tests in about 1,100 localities in 130 countries and regions, of which 34 were newly added in 2017, Tian said.

In addition, the number of Confucius Institutes across the world increased by 14 to a total of 526 in 2017, while 40 "Confucius classrooms" were added making a total of 1,113.