On November 4 (Barbados local time), the National Library of Barbados announced in a press conference that the library would cooperate with the Confucius Institute of Barbados to offer free Chinese courses to the public on Zoom. CUPL is a co-founder of the Confucius Institute of Barbados. John King, Barbados’s Minister of Culture, Jehu Wiltshire, General Secretary of Barbados’s Ministry of Culture, Eudine Barriteau, President of the University of the West Indies at Cave Hill, Barbados, Grace Haynes, Curator of Barbados’s National Library, John Downes, Assistant to the Curator of the National Library of Barbados, Li Renyan, Chinese Co-Director of the CI at Barbados, David Bulbulia, foreign Co-Director of the Confucius Institute, and Zhao Liqiang, Chinese teacher at the CI, attended the conference. Representatives from The Nation, The Endeavor and other local mainstream news agencies also attended the press conference and covered the event.

President Barriteau delivered an enthusiastic speech at the press conference. She reviewed the establishment process of the CI at Barbados under the care of the Chinese President Xi Jinping, praised efforts of the CI in improving language and cultural exchanges, and its contribution in helping Barbados achieve multilingual internationalization and in promoting regional cooperation. Soon after the conference, the first free online Chinese class made its debut. About 70 people attended the online class.