Bridging Gaps: Free training brings people from China and Myanmar closer

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02:25

Language can connect different cultures and bring people together. The Chinese border city of Ruili hosts tens of thousands of people from neighboring Myanmar who stay there for work or business. Free training programs are held in line with China's Belt and Road Initiative to promote closer ties between the two communities. CGTN's Yang Jinghao has more.

A Chinese language class in a furniture factory in Ruili in southwest China's Yunnan Province. The students are all workers coming from neighboring Myanmar.

Luo Hailing, a retired professor at Yunnan Minzu University, has been providing free night classes for more than four years in this border city.

PROFESSOR LUO HAILING (RET.) YUNNAN MINZU UNIVERSITY "A large number of Myanmar people work in Ruili. It's difficult for them to integrate into local society as they don't speak Chinese. So, we hope we can help them this way. This also helps to form friendship at grass-root levels."

Nyein Chan is one of the workers seeking growth and progress in China through language learning. A veteran employee in the factory, he says he has benefited a lot from these courses, which also provide information on Chinese laws and disease prevention.

NYEIN CHAN MYANMAR WORKER "When I first came to China, I couldn't understand what my trainer said. That was very inconvenient. When I took a taxi or went shopping, there were also a lot of problems."

With his knowledge of Chinese language, he now holds a higher position in the company and earns a lot more.

YANG JINGHAO RUILI, YUNNAN PROVINCE "As the Belt and Road Initiative deepens, people-to-people exchanges between China and Myanmar are flourishing. More and more Chinese people, especially business people, also begin to learn the Myanmar language."

Both Luo and local officials say they will carry on with their programs and provide more specialized training to improve business and cultural ties between the two nations. Yang Jinghao, CGTN, in the border city of Ruili, Yunnan Province.