The first international conference on teaching Chinese as a foreign language was held by the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China from December 7 to 9 of this year in Beijing.

About three thousand Chinese language teachers from all over the world took part in the conference, including the director of the Chinese language center Anastasia Kokurina and the dean of the Faculty of Linguistics and Intercultural Communication Roza Valeeva, who received individual invitations from the Center for Language Education and Cooperation of the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China. The need to hold this conference was due to both the growing interest in the Chinese language in all corners of the globe, and the changing trend in teaching Chinese as a foreign language, as well as related issues and tasks.

The conference included plenary sessions, breakout sessions, as well as an educational exhibition where all Chinese universities hosting international students were represented. Plenary and breakout sessions were devoted to changing directions in teaching the Chinese language. If previously they taught general spoken Chinese, now employers need a highly specialized people with knowledge of the Chinese language. For example, an economist with knowledge of Chinese. In such conditions, it is necessary to completely revise the content of training programs, as well as develop new teaching aids. At the conference, teachers from different countries shared their experience in teaching Chinese in certain areas of training, and also talked about the difficulties they face.

As part of the educational exhibition, it was possible to get acquainted with all the programs available to foreign students in China. These include language courses, bachelor's, master's, and doctoral studies. There are now many doors open to Chinese language students in China with a wide variety of opportunities.

As a result of participation in this international conference, new agreements were reached with Chinese universities on joint educational events and on the further development of cooperation. We can also conclude that the chosen direction for the development of the Chinese language at KIU is strategically correct and responds to the needs of developing international cooperation.