Russia and China enjoy a long history of friendly exchanges, and the two peoples will get closer as they manage to know each other's languages, said Vladimir Kurilov, president of Far Eastern National University on the eve of "Russian Language Year in China."

"I was born in the Far East region and grew up at a time when the song 'China and Russia Forever Friends' was widely spreading," he told Xinhua in a recent interview.

Both the reciprocal languages theme years from 2009 to 2010 and the earlier national theme years testify to the enhancement of Russia-China strategic partnership of cooperation, and help consolidate the social foundation of the two peoples' friendship for generations, said the 61-year-old professor, who is also a member of Russia’s preparatory committee for the language theme years.

Chinese President Hu Jintao and his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev announced the start of the Years of the Chinese and Russian Languages on Dec. 31, 2008.

The famed Far Eastern National University, with a history of more than 100 years, has been offering Chinese language courses since its early years, with a department of Sinology added later on. The university has always served as a center for the studies of China's language, history, economy and culture, Kurilov said.

Besides Chinese majors, those majoring in international relations, law and economics also devote themselves to the studies of Chinese language and culture, the president said.

"On one occasion, it turned out that a math student won the Chinese language contest in our university," he said.

Along with the rapid growth of bilateral exchanges, there has been a shortage of professionals with good command of both Russian and Chinese languages, which has become a bottleneck for further bilateral cooperation.

A graduate school co-founded by China's Heilongjiang University and Far Eastern National University was inaugurated in early 2006, another milestone in the joint efforts by the two countries to train talented professionals, he said.

The Russian university also maintains extensive academic exchanges and cooperation with a number of Chinese institutes of higher learning, he added.

The two countries should work together to train not only language experts, but also engineers, scientists and artists who can communicate in each other's language, Kurilov said.

“I believe that the languages theme years will not be limited to the fields of education and humanities. The events will inject new vigor into the all-round cooperation between the two countries and the two peoples will get closer on the path of friendship,” he said.

(Xinhua News Agency March 24, 2009)