Exchanges

He stressed that the Belt and Road Initiative contributes to linguistic and cultural exchanges between China and Uzbekistan. Those ties are driven by closer cooperation between the two countries' business sectors and by China's involvement in infrastructure construction in the Central Asian country.

During the 11th Confucius Institute Conference, held in Kunming, Yunnan province, on Dec 10, Vice-Premier Liu Yandong said there are currently 511 Confucius Institutes and 1,073 Confucius classes in more than 140 countries. They have become bridges between Chinese civilization and the outside world, as well as drivers of friendship and cooperation.

She added that since the establishment of the first Confucius Institute 12 years ago, the quality of teaching and services has made great progress and the number of "mutual mechanisms", such as teacher exchanges, has grown.

Looking from a wider perspective, Abdumalik Bektemirov, an Uzbek economist and professor at the Samarkand State Institute of Economics and Service, said the focus of Chinese manufacturing has successfully switched from quantity to quality, so Uzbekistan needs Chinese language experts if local industries want to learn from China's experiences.

Ismatulla Bekmuratov, vice-chairman of the Uzbek-China Friendship Society, said China's rapid economic growth has had a positive influence on Uzbekistan's domestic development.

"Many friends ask me which foreign language their children should learn. My answer is always 'Chinese'," he said. "Not only because China has the biggest population and has had a rapid economic rise, but also because I believe China will become one of Uzbekistan's biggest trading partners, so Chinese is the most promising foreign language in my country."