Abstract: This scientific article is devoted to the study of the Chinese language in schools of the Russian Federation, its status and trends. The relevance of the research topic is due, first, to the growth of the popularity of the Chinese language in the Russia among schoolchildren and students of higher educational institutions; secondly, by strengthening bilateral relations between the People’s Republic of China and the Russian Federation in the context of «power transit» and restructuring of the international situation. The study is based on neo-liberalism, which views international relations as a non-anarchic structure with the primacy of international law, institutions and international trade. The main conclusion of the study is the characteristic of the history of the study of the Chinese language in Russia as cyclical. The practical interest of the Chinese language acquired only at the end of the 19th century and developed until the deterioration of relations between the USSR and the People’s Republic of China, when the orientation of the Chinese language in the Soviet Union changed from practical to scientific. Chinese is taught in schools in the Russian Federation on an equal footing with other foreign languages. The popularity of the Chinese language among schoolchildren is growing every year. Among the key problems of learning the Chinese language in Russian schools are the lack of teaching staff against the background of increased interest, the lack of teaching aids, the lack of native speakers, the concentration on learning Chinese at universities. The scientific novelty of the conducted research lies in the analysis of the history of the study of the Chinese language in Russia from the time of the reign of Peter I to the present day, the comparative analysis.

Abstract: This article is devoted to the study of the role of Confucius Institutes in the dissemination of the Chinese language in the Russian Federation. The relevance of the research topic is due to several factors: the rapid growth of the influence of the People’s Republic of China on the international arena, the growth of bilateral cooperation between the PRC and the Russian Federation under conditions of transformation of the international relations situation, phenomenon of «power transition». The object of this study is «soft power» of the PRC. The study focuses on the role of the Confucius Institutes in promoting the Chinese language in the Russian Federation. The author considers in detail the role of Confucius Institutes in the context of the implementation of the «soft power» of China, the activities of Confucius Institutes in the Russian Federation. The author pays special attention to the study of the policy of «soft power» of the PRC in the context of «power transition». This study is based on neo-liberalism. The main conclusions of the study are the characterization of «soft power» of China as a historically deep phenomenon, the evaluation of the Chinese language as one of the key elements of «soft power» of the People’s Republic of China at the present stage, analysis of the competitiveness of the «soft power» of the People’s Republic of China with the same form of political power of the USA, identification of differences in the activities of the Confucius Institutes in the countries of the collective West and the Russian Federation. The scientific novelty of the conducted study lies in the analysis of the activity of the Confucius Institutes in the dissemination of the Chinese language in the Russian Federation in the context of the process of «power transition».