Above 3,000 Kazakh students study in China

The deputies of the Kazakh Senate ratified an agreement between the Governments of Kazakhstan and China on mutual establishment of cultural centers, Kazinform News Agency reports.

As Senator Bibgul Zheksenbay said agreement on cultural cooperation as of August 10, 1992, was one of the first legal acts in the sphere of cultural cooperation between Kazakhstan and China.

The ‘soft power’ notion in a short period became an essential political discourse globally and an important direction in many countries' domestic and foreign policies. The influence of the soft power is growing worldwide in conformity with the intense globalization process, the deputy said.

Kazakhstan and China signed an agreement on cultural and humanitarian cooperation in 2015. Five Confucius Institutes opened in Kazakhstan in Astana, Almaty, Karaganda and Aktobe cities.

3,449 Kazakhstani students are studying in China as of now. Six centers of Kazakhstan were unveiled at the universities in China, particularly, in Beijing, Shanghai, etc. to teach Kazakh language and literature. An agreement between Kazakhstan and China on mutual establishment of cultural centers was drafted taking into account the importance of deepening cultural cooperation as part of the Road and Belt Initiative, she added.

She reminded in 2022 the Heads of State agreed on establishing cultural centers on a parity basis in China and Kazakhstan.

This step is aimed at strengthening friendly relations between the two countries and the development of cultural and humanitarian cooperation. The agreement provides for the opening of cultural centers in the capitals of the two nations, Astana and Beijing. Such centers are noncommercial organizations accredited in the host country and exist under the host country's laws. Cultural centers will give an impetus to cultural cooperation between Kazakhstan and China, the Senator concluded.