Chinese and Russian: Cementing ties with language

China is not only a reliable friend and neighboring country to Kazakhstan, but also the largest foreign investor, said Kazakhstan Deputy Prime Minister Dariga Nazarbayeva while noting the importance of learning Chinese earlier this year.

The study of Mandarin has certainly grown in tandem with the explosive Chinese economy. Large enterprises such as PetroChina, Huawei, CITIC，and Bank of China all have set up branches in Kazakhstan and provide big job opportunities to locals. The four Confucius Institutes in Kazakhstan struggle to meet the local demand of learning Chinese, and many choose to study in China just after high-school graduation.

A teacher at a local Chinese language school even believes that one third of Kazakhstanis will be able of speak Chinese in the next seven to eight years.

Kazakhstan's then-prime minister Karim Masimov (1st L) at a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization member states on December 16, 2015. [Photo/VCG]

The number of Kazakhstan students in China has increased five-fold in the past 10 years, according to China Scholarship Council. Official statistics of Kazakhstan said that 12,000 Kazakhstan students choose China as their education destination with the number increasing annually. Around 2,000 Kazakhstan students have completed their studies in China during the past 10 years, including former prime minister Karim Massimov, who once studied at Beijing Language and Culture University and Law School of Wuhan University in China. The China hand once gave a speech at the 2015 World Internet Conference in Wuzhen in Mandarin and impressed audiences around the world.