The teaching of Russian plays an important role in the exchanges between Russia and China, says Ludmila Verbitskaya, president of St. Petersburg State University.

Verbitskaya is chairwoman of the International Association of Teachers of Russian Language and Literature and she spoke with Xinhua on the eve of the opening of the Russian Language Year in China.

The university president hailed China as an important partner in the exchanges of Russia's language and culture.

She said the reciprocal language theme years to be held in China and Russia from 2009 to 2010 are the extension and development of the Year of Russia in China in 2006 and the Year of China in Russia in 2007.

Hundreds of events have been held during the national theme years, the professor said. She said the activities, with abundant content and various forms, have enhanced mutual understanding between China and Russia and have offered opportunities to know the current situations in each other's countries.

"Once they begin to take a great interest in a country, they will come up with the idea of learning its language," Verbitskaya said.

As to the upcoming Russian Language Year in China, the university president said teachers of the two countries would cooperate in many ways, including jointly editing textbooks, sending teachers to Russia for further education and staging summer camps.

The two sides will hold national Russian contests for middle school and college students in China, she said. Moreover, the Russian Language Year will also see new Russian teaching centers established in Chinese universities as well as more seminars and exhibitions.

China ranks high among the dozens of countries where Russian is taught in terms of the level and the number of its students, Verbitskaya said.

The Chinese government attaches great importance to Russian-language teaching, and Chinese universities have been successful in educating translators and diplomats versed in Russian. Those efforts have facilitated the friendly cooperation between the two countries, the professor said.

Verbitskaya noted that the 12th International Conference on Russian Language would be held in the Chinese financial hub of Shanghai in 2011.

In the previous conference held in Bulgaria in 2007, China was given the right to hold the 12th conference over Kazakhstan, Belarus and India.

"This will be the first time that the conference is held in an Asian country," she said.

Recalling the scene when she attended an international seminar on Russian teaching in Shanghai last October, Verbitskaya spoke highly of China's teachers and students.

"We sang a Russian song together. I saw in them the hopes of language exchanges between our countries," she said.

In a gesture to show welcome, the 73-year-old professor wore a red dress while doing the interview. "I have been to China for many times, and I know that red is the favorite color of Chinese," she said.

(Xinhua News Agency March 25, 2009)