Chinese and Russian: Cementing ties with language

Central Asian country Kyrgyzstan shares 1,100 km common boundary with China. As an important country alongside the ancient Silk Road, Kyrgyzstan also remains an integral part of the new Silk Road Economic Belt, and highly treasures the relations with China, Russia, and neighboring countries in Central Asia.

China has surpassed Russia and has become the largest trade partner and commodities importer of the country. Trade value between China and Kyrgyz reached $672 million in the first half of 2016, up 60 percent on a yearly basis.

Trade and business has brought job opportunities to local people, and triggered Chinese learning among the country. According to Liu Weiqian, Chinese director of Confucius Institute of Kyrgyzstan Osh State University, one of his students worked for a Chinese company as a translator during vacation and earned $500 for a month, while $300/month is a relatively high income for local people.

Students learn Peking Opera mask painting at Kyrgyzstan State University on September 27, 2016. [Photo/Xinhua]

Three-hundred-and-fifty Kyrgyzstanis are studying at Osh's Confucius Institute, and the newly established Chinese classes for high-school students have attracted 230 local students during the last three years, and the Chinese boom echoed with the development of the Belt and Road Initiative proposed by China in terms of timing. Many Kyrgyz students plan for further study in China after graduating from college, and the cultural exchange will boost economic and trade development as well, said the director.