Editor's note: This year marks the 10th anniversary of " the Belt and Road" initiative. In the past summer vacation, many foreign students of Silk Road School returned to their hometown, and they had the most intuitive feeling about the changes brought about by the construction of "Belt and Road Initiative".

"I want to be the 'red blood cell' in Belt and Road Initiative's aorta."

-An Xinyi (Anastasia Eganova)

Student of Silk Road School from Russia

This summer vacation, I returned to my long-lost hometown Kazan, the capital of the Republic of Tatarstan of the Russian Federation. Walking on the street, I found that more and more people speak Chinese, and more and more Kazan people are interested in China. Over the past decade, Kazan has developed rapidly and its ties with China have become closer and closer.

Over the past few years, I have deeply felt that Kazan is closely linked with China. Many Chinese enterprises have entered the Republic of Tatarstan, and Kazan is the first Russian city to successfully integrate Didi Taxi into the lives of its citizens; the high-end refrigerator manufacturing base of Chinese home appliance brand Haier is in the city of Nabelezny Cherney, not far from Kazan. In 2019, I participated in the Qingdao-Kazan Exchange Day, a Sino-Russian youth business incubator. Chinese investors signed major agreements to invest in Tatar tea, Kazan housing, meat industry and other industries. In September this year, the first large-scale Sino-Russian international forum was held in Kazan, attracting delegations from Chinese provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities that had signed inter-regional intergovernmental agreements with the Republic of Tatarstan.

In the first half of this year, the Silk Road School of Renmin University of China organized foreign students, including myself, to study in Yiwu, Zhejiang Province. When I was visiting a transportation company, I saw a huge "Yixin Europe" Central European train map on the wall. Suddenly, I found my hometown Kazan on the map. When I learned that it only takes 10 days to send goods from Yiwu to Kazan through this China-Europe train, I was surprised by such efficiency. This means that I no longer have to transfer from Moscow or St. Petersburg to send gifts from China to my friends and relatives in my hometown. The bold red line connected by the railway on the map is like an artery connected to the heart, and I think I am the "red blood cell" of this artery.

When the Belt and Road Initiative initiative was first put forward ten years ago, I had no feelings for it, but now, ten years later, I feel that it has become an important part of my life. Over the past ten years, China has injected fresh air into the world through " the Belt and Road " initiative, which is of great significance to the economic construction of the country jointly built by "the Belt and Road" , regional prosperity and even the balance of the world economy.

Before entering the Silk Road School of Renmin University of China, I completed my undergraduate study at Beijing Language and Culture University, which laid a good foundation for me in Chinese. With the continuous development of "the Belt and Road" initiative, I hope my experience of studying in China will help me find a job related to "the Belt and Road". I want to be a "red blood cell" in the aorta of "the Belt and Road", constantly delivering oxygen to the "heart"!