ON TEACHING A COURSE OF BUSINESS CHINESE TRANSLATION FROM THE POINT OF VIEW OF THE INTERNATIONAL COOPERATIVE INITIATIVE “ONE BELT, ONE ROAD”

Abstract

The Belt and Road Initiative (formerly known as “One Belt, One Road”) brings together the initiatives put forward by Chinese President Xi Jinping in September 2013 in Astana, which call for the creation of several large-scale “economic corridors” aimed at developing the infrastructure of Asian countries, including a land route through Central Asia, the Caucasus, Russia, and Europe. Three high-level forums on international cooperation under the “One Belt, One Road” banner were successfully held in Beijing in August 2017, April 2019, and October 2023. The Belt and Road Initiative is first and foremost a vast cooperation framework that places economic development at its core and promotes economic prosperity, political mutual trust, cultural exchange, and the overall development of the countries along its routes, for the benefit of people worldwide. Advancing this cooperation is inseparable from the quality of language services supporting the construction of the Belt and Road and the Eurasian Economic Union. Based on a systematic analysis of the current system for training Chinese-language business specialists at the Russian Confucius Institute, this article examines the linguistic and cultural characteristics of the Belt and Road co-founder countries, their economic development needs, and the dynamic changes in the international business environment. It then discusses in detail how to design and implement an innovative teaching and learning model to comprehensively and deeply meet the international business sector’s demand for skilled Chinese-language professionals within the Belt and Road framework. The article proposes a detailed construction strategy, implementation pathways, and a guarantee mechanism. Its aim is to cultivate talented specialists who are proficient in Chinese, possess deep knowledge of international business, and have strong intercultural communication skills, as well as to provide reliable support for these specialists to continuously deepen and advance the Belt and Road Initiative. Based on an analysis of the existing business Chinese courses offered by the Russian Confucius Institute, the article also identifies current challenges in teaching business Chinese and offers recommendations for curriculum adjustments and planning.