Kanatov Amirkhan Yerlanovich, a 10-year-old boy from Kazakhstan plays the saxophone. Photo: Wang Pu/Global Times

China and Kazakhstan are good neighbors, as the two countries have formed close partnership relations and people-to-people friendship. During a visit to Kazakhstan, the Global Times reporter witnessed the growing enthusiasm of local people for Chinese culture.

Kanatov Amirkhan Yerlanovich is a 10-year-old from Kazakhstan. On Monday he performed a Chinese song and Chinese tongue twister to the Global Times reporter, sharing his impressions of China.

Yerlanovich has spent three years studying Chinese at the Confucius Institute at the Eurasian National University in Kazakhstan.

"I am Kanatov Amirkhan Yerlanovich from Kazakhstan. I am smart, kind, and brave," he told the Global Times reporter by showcasing his Chinese language proficiency and reciting the difficult tongue twisters with ease, showing a strong interest in Chinese culture.

Yerlanovich expressed his love for the giant panda when receiving a panda keychain from the Global Times reporter as a gift. 

“It's a giant panda! I really love giant pandas! They are so adorable,” he said.

He has been to China twice, participating in a Chinese language competition in Southwest China's Yunnan Province and visiting Beijing with his family. 

"We visited the Temple of Heaven and the Great Wall in Beijing, saw the giant pandas in the zoo, and ate the famed roast duck. I liked it very much," he said. He said he is also interested in Chinese popular songs. Under his influence, his younger sister has started learning the Chinese language.

A student at the Eurasian National University told the Global Times that she was most impressed by Chinese traditional musical instruments during a trip to China in April.

Having been studying Chinese for less than a year she can engage in daily conversations now. 

"Learning Chinese has broadened my career options and expanded my horizons. It can be said that my connection with China has changed my life," she said, adding that more and more young people in Kazakhstan are enthusiastic about learning Chinese and get fascinated by Chinese culture, believing that the language is the language of the future.

The Confucius Institute at the Eurasian National University was established in 2006 as a partnership between the Center for Language Education and Cooperation and Eurasian National University. It is the first Confucius Institute in Kazakhstan and the only one in the capital city of Astana. 

Yang Lei, the Chinese director of the Confucius Institute, told the Global Times that the institute has successfully trained 14,000 residents of Kazakhstan to speak in fluent Chinese, who are now actively participating in cultural exchanges between the two countries.