May 26th, 2012 - The YCT was held successfully at the Test Center of Confucius Institute at the University of Habana, Cuba local time thanks to the strong support of Hanban, assistance of Test Service Office of Chinese Testing International, intensive preparation and arduous efforts of all teachers and students of the Confucius Institute.

This represents the first-ever YCT held after Confucius Institute applied to be the test center in 2011. Fifty-six test takers sit on the YCT of all levels. The CI organized exam training and simulation test on four weekends in the leading up to the YCT, to help students identify test level and gear up for the test. The eldest test taker is 15 years old while the youngest is 8. On top of students of the Children Class at the CI, some test takers have lived in China and studied at primary and secondary schools in China whose their parents are Cuban diplomats and other personages

For now, the Confucius Institute has three weekend Children Classes, with about 45 registered students. It’s expected that two to three new classes will be opened in the new semester and the number of children students will reach about 100. By that time, 500 will study at the CI and the total number of registered students will amount to over 900.

Since the CI established the Test Center in June 2011, it has organized two HSK tests and one YCT, with altogether 239 test takers. As more and more students begin to learn Chinese, the number of test takers would be on the rise over time.