Belt and Road Initiative boosts interest in foreign languages

The Belt and Road Initiative is fueling enthusiasm among the Chinese people to pick up a second or third foreign language other than English, according to a report by Hujiang (HJ) Online Class, a leading online course platform.

Russian, Thai and Arabic have emerged as the top three favorites for avid language learners, with the growth of paid users on HJ's virtual classes significantly higher than long-time choices such as Japanese or French, the Shanghai-based company said.

"We are seeing a notable surge in interest to learn languages that are spoken in economies related to the initiative," said Zhang Jing, general manager of HJ's multilingual business unit.