Welcome

Welcome to the Swire Chinese Language Foundation. As the result of a ten-year initiative funded by the Swire Group, we have expanded the learning of Mandarin Chinese in British state schools through the Swire Chinese Language Programme (the Programme) grouped around eleven Centres established across the country, teaching pupils from 4 to 18.

Our mission has been to increase the quality, quantity, and reach of the teaching of Mandarin Chinese to state school children in the UK, and to raise their aspirations, particularly for those from socioeconomically deprived backgrounds.  We hope that this will contribute to the UK’s future China capability.

We believe the value of speaking a foreign language is undeniable, making connections between people and across cultures, and that in the context of today’s world this is increasingly important. This is a long journey, with ambitions which will take a generation to achieve.

With the establishment at the beginning of the 2025/26 academic year of the Centre of Excellence in the Learning and Teaching of Chinese at Oxford University, funded by John Swire & Sons, a new chapter begins. This Centre will provide initial and ongoing training for teachers of Chinese across the country, undertake research and work in collaboration with schools who are offering Chinese on their curriculums to build on the foundations laid by the Swire Chinese Language Programme over the previous ten years.