BEIJING, Dec. 23, 2025 — Duan Peng, President of Beijing Language and Culture University (BLCU), has been conferred the Second-Class Friendship Medal of the Republic of Kazakhstan, one of the country’s highest state honors, in recognition of his exceptional contributions to building world-class educational platforms and cementing the good-neighborly friendship and strategic partnership between China and Kazakhstan.
The award ceremony was presided over by Shakhrat Nureyev, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Kazakhstan to China, who delivered a keynote speech at the event. The ambassador noted that the decoration was approved via Decree No.1074 signed by Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, a move carrying profound significance for bilateral educational and people-to-people ties. For decades, BLCU has been a pivotal hub for nurturing professional talents for Kazakhstan, with President Tokayev himself being a distinguished alumnus who pursued advanced studies at the university. The establishment of the BLCU Kazakhstan Campus in June 2024 marked a landmark achievement in China-Kazakhstan educational cooperation. In October 2025, President Tokayev met with President Duan Peng in Astana, where he highly praised BLCU’s efforts and voiced strong support for deepening bilateral educational cooperation.
In his acceptance speech, President Duan Peng emphasized that the honor belongs not to himself alone, but to all faculty and students of BLCU. Looking ahead, President Duan Peng noted that 2026 will mark the 34th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Kazakhstan. BLCU will continue to leverage its strengths in language education and people-to-people exchanges, work closely with Kazakhstani partners to advance the high-level people-to-people mechanism between the two countries, and inject more cultural momentum into the development of bilateral relations.
(Editor：Yao Meixian, Han Lintao)
