Mandarin Chinese popularity in Russia growing

Russian President Putin during an interaction with school children in Kyzyl, Tuva, about 4,500 km (2,800 miles) east of Moscow, revealed that some “little ones” in his family speak fluent Chinese, reported news agency Reuters. Putin rarely spoke on his family and this probably was the first time he spoke about his young members in his family, while interacting with small children. Putin has two daughters with his ex-wife Lyudmila who speak Russian, English, German, and French. Putin has grandchildren who can speak Mandarin Chinese, the most widely spoken dialect of Chinese, also the official language of China. As the Russia-China bilateral relations increase and partnership deepen, there reportedly is growing popularity among Russian children for Mandarin language as a foreign language choice.