A celebration of cultures

International students from countries including India, Madagascar, Russia and Tajikistan at the University of International Business and Economics on Thursday attend the 8th International Culture Festival in Beijing, dancing, playing music instruments and selling their countries' souvenirs.

Over 12,000 students have become involved in such dimensions of the initiative as trade flow, currency circulation, precision poverty alleviation, and mass entrepreneurship and innovation, Wang says. He hopes building on-campus platforms for cross-cultural education and friendship, such as the festival, will move these goals forward.

Participants also enjoyed tea with 28 diplomats in China, who answered questions on such issues as the image of Chinese youth, mainstream media and national entrepreneurship.

Ruth Jordan, first secretary of Barbados' embassy in China, says China's policy support, stable macroeconomic situation and internationalization provide both Chinese and overseas students entrepreneurial opportunities.

A highlight of this year's culture festival was the "Ambassadors' Wish List", in which diplomats recorded their hopes and students fulfill them.

Tajik Fotima Yakudova is a beneficiary of China's international cooperation. The 27-year-old received a scholarship provided by Tajikistan's state savings bank, Amonatbonk－where she worked for two years－and the China Development Bank. She's in her second year of studying finance at the UIBE.

"We have witnessed increasing trade business between our countries, and China's Belt and Road Initiative is going to stimulate more growth for both," she says.

"I think studying at the UIBE will help me know China better, and especially its business culture, so that I can know how to deal with the way Chinese merchants trade."

Related photos: International students celebrate cultures at Beijing university