Schools want stronger ties with China

Invited by President Alexander Lukashenko, 300 Chinese high school students attended summer camp in Belarus last year, the minister added, noting that more than 3,000 Chinese students are currently studying in Belarus and more than 1,000 Belarusian students are in China as part of exchange programs.

With closer relations between Belarus and China and high demand for local Chinese-speaking graduates, the Belarusian government is developing Chinese instruction programs and the Ministry of Education has implemented the 2020 Chinese Language Teaching Plan nationwide.

There are 14 advanced educational institutes offering Chinese language instruction, and four Confucius Institutes have been established in the country.

Minsk State Linguistic University started the country's first Faculty of Chinese last year and now provides Chinese training classes for high school teachers.

Natallia Baranava, head of the university, said there's a growing desire among young Belarusians to learn Chinese.

Linked with Southeast University in Nanjing, capital city of China's Jiangsu province, Minsk State Linguistic University now has 15 Chinese teachers, but is struggling to meet the growing need.

As one of the earliest and largest Confucius Institutes, the one at the university opened in September 2011 and has accommodated more than 10,000 students over the past eight years.

Tatiana Demianenko, Belarusian director of the Confucius Institute at the university, said there were only two classrooms and no more than 20 students when the facility opened in 2011.

"Now more than 300 people study hereteenagers, employees from companies, even senior citizens interested in Chinese language and culture," Demianenko said.