Recently, students were taking classes in the Chinese interest class at China International School in Moscow. Courtesy of Wu Hao

Recently, Chen Zhigang (first from left), President of Russia China Business Park, visited Shanghai Hongqiao Management Committee with the delegation of St. Petersburg Municipal Council. Courtesy of Chen Zhigang

This year marks the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Russia. In recent years, under the leadership of the diplomatic strategy of the head of state, China Russia relations have continued to develop healthily, and practical cooperation in various fields has steadily advanced. In the friendly folk exchanges between China and Russia, overseas Chinese are active. They are both narrators and writers of Sino Russian friendship.

 

Wu Hao:

"Cultivate envoys to spread China Russia friendship"

"Read with me, how are you..." From time to time, bursts of Chinese reading came from a school near the Alioshkin Nature Reserve in the northwest of Moscow. This is the newly established Russia China International School. On September 1, the school will officially welcome the first batch of students.

"At the beginning of this year, the school's hardware facilities were fully prepared. In April, the enrollment work started. Now, the school has opened the Chinese, calligraphy and other interest classes." Wu Hao, president of the Russian China International School, told our reporter.

Founded by China Today Education Group, Russia China International School holds the license issued by the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation and the school running license issued by the Moscow Municipal Bureau of Education and Science. It is the first full-time international school in Russia with distinctive characteristics of Chinese language and Chinese culture education.

"At present, the school has held three campus open days, attracting many Russian parents and overseas Chinese parents to visit with their children and make an appointment to register. Some parents came from St. Petersburg and other cities on a special trip." In Wu Hao's view, behind the school's "enrollment craze" is Russia's growing "Chinese craze" and "China craze".

Having lived in Russia for 25 years, Wu Hao witnessed the continuous development of China Russia relations. "At present, China Russia relations have reached the highest level in history. The two countries have increasingly frequent exchanges in trade, investment, culture, science and technology, education and other fields. For more and more Russian people, especially the young generation, learning Chinese and understanding Chinese culture is not only an interest, but also can increase career choices and bring more development opportunities," he said.

Over the years, Wu Hao has been paving the way for people to people and cultural exchanges between China and Russia, from setting up his own cultural company, establishing a Russian magazine to introduce China's development, to serving as the Secretary General of the Russian Federation of Overseas Chinese. Now, as the president of China International School in Moscow, Wu Hao feels that his responsibility is even greater.

"The school will not only teach Chinese, but also integrate Chinese medicine, Chinese martial arts, Chinese food and other elements into the curriculum. In addition, we plan to establish a friendly school relationship with local Russian primary and secondary schools, and carry out the activity of" Chinese lessons on campus ", so that more Russian teenagers can contact Chinese and feel the beauty of Chinese culture." When talking about the future work plan, Wu Hao is ambitious, "We hope to build this school into a platform for Sino Russian cultural and educational cooperation and cultivate more ambassadors to spread Sino Russian friendship."

Chen Zhigang:

"Provide support for Chinese and Russian enterprises to" go in both directions ""

"In St. Petersburg, we have our own 'China Building'. At this moment, I'm here to talk to you." In a telephone interview with our reporter, Chen Zhigang, a Russian Chinese businessman and president of the Russia China Business Park, spoke proudly.

The "China Building" in Chen Zhigang's mouth is located in the Russia China Business Park in St. Petersburg. Over the years, he has received many Chinese political and business delegations here, and witnessed the dialogue and cooperation between Chinese and Russian enterprises again and again.

Since 1993, Chen Zhigang has been studying and doing business in Russia for more than 30 years. With the increasingly close economic and trade exchanges between China and Russia, the willingness of enterprises of the two countries to cooperate is rising, showing a positive trend of "two-way rush". Among them, Chen Zhigang saw the opportunity. In 2015, under his active promotion, the Russia China Business Park was officially established.

"The Russia China Business Park is committed to building a platform for information exchange and interaction between Chinese and Russian enterprises, and providing legal, financial and policy advisory services for Chinese institutions and enterprises to enter Russia." According to Chen Zhigang, up to now, the Russia China Business Park has served 158 Russian enterprises and 53 Chinese enterprises.

During this period, Chen Zhigang's schedule is very full. Not long ago, as an expert member of the Investment Committee of the St. Petersburg Municipal Council, he visited Beijing, Shanghai, Qingdao and other places with the delegation of the city council to look for business opportunities. Later, he came to Harbin, Heilongjiang Province, to implement the progress of local agricultural and light industrial enterprises landing in the Russia China Business Park, and to discuss the issue of local products entering the "China Fine Products Pavilion" in the Russia China Business Park.

The more "bridges" are built, the more carefully Chen Zhigang observes and thinks about Sino Russian economic and trade cooperation.

"When Chinese enterprises enter Russia, their products should be 'front ended' so that Russian consumers can see and touch them. In line with this, our services should also be 'front ended'. We should help enterprises to get through logistics, customs clearance, settlement and other links in a timely manner to solve various problems efficiently." Chen Zhigang said that at present, the Russia China Business Park is actively building a "never ending" "China Premium Product Pavilion", and set up an online exhibition area supported by digital technology to help Chinese enterprises and Russian local purchasers, especially local e-commerce, quickly connect products, so as to promote more Chinese high-quality goods to enter the Russian market.

"In short, to provide necessary support for Chinese and Russian enterprises to 'go in both directions' is what I have been doing," said Chen Zhigang.

Jiang Yanbin:

"The time is right for people to people and cultural exchanges between the two countries"

Recently, an international martial arts festival was held in the "Ice Palace" Gymnasium in Cherepowitz, Vologda, Russia. Shaolin Kung Fu in China is clean, like flowing clouds and flowing water; The Russian martial arts "Sangbo" is full of enthusiasm and strength... More than 600 Chinese and Russian martial artists and athletes jointly contributed a "Kung Fu Feast".

Off stage, Jiang Yanbin, president of the Russian Confucius Culture Promotion Association, was fascinated and applauded from time to time. "Sports and art culture are the 'common language' that transcends national boundaries and promotes international exchanges." He sincerely sighed.

2024-2025 is the year of Sino Russian culture. Since this year, a series of colorful cultural exchanges between China and Russia have been held successively. Recently, Jiang Yanbin is elaborately preparing for an important event - the fourth "Confucius Cup" China Sports, Culture and Arts Competition. According to him, the competition will include Chinese martial arts, Go, Chinese chess, Chinese Confucian knowledge, children's Chinese style painting, Chinese calligraphy and other competitions. There will also be Chinese vocal music, Chinese dance, Chinese musical instruments, tea art, Chinese medicine and other performances on the scene.

"A year goes by to a new level, with more and more events and more popularity." Talking about the previous three competitions, Jiang Yanbin could not hide his excitement. "The number of contestants and spectators has increased year by year, and the venue of the competition has also been transferred from the activity center of our overseas Chinese group to the Ilina Vine Usmanova Gymnastics Palace in Moscow. In the third competition last year, there were thousands of contestants and athletes alone. The competition also attracted many Russian people, overseas Chinese and Chinese to watch, and received strong support from many local institutions and associations. "

State to state relations lie in people to people relations, and people to people relations lie in heart to heart communication. In recent years, China and Russia have jointly held "National Year", "Tourism Year", "Media Exchange Year", "Local Cooperation and Exchange Year", "Science and Technology Innovation Year" and "Sports Exchange Year" and other activities, which have widely attracted the participation of the people of both countries and enhanced mutual understanding and recognition.

"China and Russia are great countries in culture, art and sports. Taking advantage of the East Wind of the China Russia Cultural Year, it is time for people to people and cultural exchanges between the two countries." Jiang Yanbin said, "In addition to holding the 'Confucius Cup' competition, we have many plans this year, such as holding an exchange contest between Shaolin Wushu and Russia's' Sangbo 'in Henan Province, China, and cooperating with Russian artists to establish the Russia China Silk Road Voice Youth Symphony Orchestra. We hope to do our part to promote mutual understanding and affinity between Chinese and Russian people."

Niu Huawei:

"Promote Chinese and tell good stories of Chinese culture"

What is the experience of learning Chinese in the "online class" in Russia? The majority of Chinese lovers who participate in the Russian "Media+" online Chinese class know it best.

"In 2022, we won the approval of the Chinese Foreign Language Exchange and Cooperation Center of the Ministry of Education of China to launch online Chinese classes in Russia." Niu Huawei, president of the Russian "Media+" online Chinese class, introduced to our reporter that the organization is committed to carrying out online and offline Chinese education, training Russian local Chinese teachers, developing Chinese textbooks Organize various cultural exchange activities.

"In 2019, Chinese was included in the national unified examination of Russia. In recent years, the popularity of Chinese education in Russia has significantly increased, the Russian people are increasingly interested in Chinese and Chinese culture, and the market demand for 'Chinese+' vocational education and 'digital' Chinese classrooms is growing." Niu Huawei said, "We firmly seize this opportunity and actively promote the development of online Chinese classes, which have been recognized by Russian students, Russian employees of Chinese enterprises and other Chinese lovers."

On April 20 this year, Moscow 548 School held an activity to celebrate the International Chinese Day. The Russian "Media+" online Chinese class is one of the event organizers. Russian Chinese learners bring song performances such as "Chinese", "Song of the Twenty four Solar Terms", and "Young Chinese" to show their learning achievements. In the cultural interaction experience area with Chinese characteristics, students wear "VR glasses" to enter the virtual campus to immerse themselves in the teaching atmosphere of Chinese universities. In addition, the Russian "Media+" online Chinese class also prepared traditional sugar painting, pitcher, calligraphy, Lubansuo, block printing and other experience activities for the audience.

"Moscow 548 School is our long-term partner. After learning Chinese, students will actively sign up for spring camp and summer camp activities in China to feel the charm of Chinese culture at a close distance," said Niu Huawei.

With the "Chinese craze" heating up, a number of excellent Chinese film and television plays have also become "fans" in Russia. As the president of Eurasian Media Association, Niu Huawei actively participated in the exhibition, promotion and landing of Chinese film and television dramas in Russia.

"The Chinese cartoon" Birds Chase the Phoenix ", the TV series" Fox Hunt "," River "and so on are loved by the Russian people. We hope that these works will enter the lives of the Russian people and open more windows for cultural exchanges between China and Russia." Niu Huawei said, "It is our mission to promote Chinese, tell good stories about Chinese culture, and spread the sound of Chinese culture."

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