Many teachers and students enthused over Chinese language and culture on Friday attended the book fair for Chinese teaching materials, which was hosted by the Confucius Institute at Moscow State University.

Along with the prevalence of overseas Chinese language learning in recent years, reference books and audio-visual materials of Chinese language teaching has become increasingly popular among teachers and students, said Ren Guangxuan, the Institute Director from the Chinese side, at the opening ceremony.

They are also of great help to the teaching and learning process, he added.

The book fair has provided an opportunity for Russian teachers and students engaged in Chinese language learning to acquire a general knowledge of Chinese linguistic teaching materials, said Tatiana Bukhtiyarova, the Institute Director from the Russian side.

"I've taught myself Chinese for more than one year. This fair was very helpful," said Vera, a student from the automation faculty of Moscow Power Engineering Institute.

Vera told Xinhua that she braved the freezing cold of winter Moscow to the book fair by bus, hoping to find something suitable for her learning.

The Confucius Institute, jointly unveiled in Oct. 2008 by Chinese State Councilor Liu Yandong and Victor Sadovnichii, the president of Moscow State University, now has a student population of 150.

Spurred by proposals from the leaders of the two countries, China and Russia staged reciprocal theme-year activities, with " Year of Russia" in China in 2006 and "Year of China" in Russia in 2007.

To further consolidate their cultural cooperation, the two countries decided to hold the "Russian Language Year" in China in 2009 and the "Chinese Language Year" in Russia in 2010.

(Xinhua News Agency January 23, 2010)