The article discusses public-private partnership in China and Bulgaria, Concessions Act in Bulgaria and Public Procurement Act.

Against the backdrop of the “One Belt, One Road” Initiative, the “16 + 1” format, fostering cooperation between China and the countries of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE countries), has become an important project. The striving and desire to interact on the base of the formula of equal co-operation (win-win development) promise favorable prospects. Unfortunately, however, in recent years there started a phenomenon within the EU, which we can definitely call a “New Wave of “Sinophobia”.Although so far it is hidden, this phenomenon is undoubtedly beginning to negatively affect the “16 + 1” format. In the report, we are trying to find out what the roots of this “New Wave of “Sinophobia” are? Another key objective is to think about what should be the response of this negative shadow on cooperation under the “16 + 1” format.

The report follows the innovation developments of the PRC since 1949 to date, presenting the country‘s greatest achievements in the field of innovation.

The teaching of phonetic characters is an important teaching point in teaching Chinese as a foreign language. The unique structure of the phonetic characters has brought benefits to the teaching of Chinese characters, but also has many drawbacks. Based on the results of previous studies, this paper explores the basic principles and teaching methods of the teaching of phonetic characters, and tries to provide reference for the teaching law of phonetic characters.

Against the backdrop of the “One Belt, One Road” Initiative, the “16 + 1” format, fostering cooperation between China and the countries of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE countries), has become an important project. The striving and desire to interact on the base of the formula of equal co-operation (win-win development) promise favorable prospects. Unfortunately, however, in recent years there started a phenomenon within the EU, which we can definitely call a “New Wave of “Sinophobia”. Although so far it is hidden, this phenomenon is undoubtedly beginning to negatively affect the “16 + 1” format. In the report, we are trying to find out what the roots of this “New Wave of “Sinophobia” are? Another key objective is to think about what should be the response of this negative shadow on cooperation under the “16 + 1” format.

In the recent years, the demand for Chinese language training has increased significantly worldwide. Following the trend, Bulgaria for many years now develops intensive language studies in the secondary schools and Universities all around the country. A need for cultural classes emerged to provide the necessary resources for successful realization in China or with Chinese language in the labor market. This paper provides different approaches of teaching China‘s geography for students, linking it to ancient and modern China, and to the practical aspects of applying the new knowledge provided.

Knowing the norms of communication and etiquette in a given country facilitates communication and leads to smoother realization of the objectives of the conversation, as well as to the establishment of mutually beneficial business relations. However, etiquette is too diverse and varied, and reflects the traditions and identity of every nation. The characteristic features of a given nation can be radically different from the other. That is why knowing the Other is an important part of cross-cultural communication in the process of globalization. That’s why when staying in a foreign country, even as tourists, we should undoubtedly have to get acquainted with its cultural features, with the mentality of the population, the traditions and customs in order to avoid facing seemingly insignificant intercultural differences that can lead to confusion – from simple comic situations to extreme misunderstandings. Therefore, it is important to pay attention to several characteristics in verbal and non-verbal communication to avoid confusing moments, with the proviso that almost every person is tolerant when talking with foreigners and realizes the possibility of involuntary and unambiguous manifestations of tactlessness by the other side. This research is based on the authors’ experience in communicating with Chinese people after a long stay in the far Asian country, welcoming and accompanying Chinese delegations in Bulgaria and Bulgarian – in China.

The present paper aims at revealing certain features of the moral values on which education in China and Bulgaria is based, focusing on the19th century. Morality is an integral part of the integrated approach to personal education. Its necessity is determined by complex socio-economic relations, the need for regulation and a balance between public and private interests. As moral values are not a permanent category and are directly influenced by changes within a certain society, this paper discuses some characteristics of the social structures and educational institutions as well as the ideological background related to moral education in both countries at that period.

In the process of teaching Chinese as a foreign language, teaching Chinese characters plays an important role. Teaching Chinese without Chinese characters would make it difficult for foreign students to enter the advanced level in the process of learning Chinese. Foreign students often make writing errors in the process of Chinese character learning. According to Corder’s error analysis theory, this paper summarizes the types of Chinese writing errors that foreign students tend to make in the process of learning Chinese characters. It puts forward effective and novel Chinese character teaching methods and strategies in order to improve the efficiency of foreign students’ learning Chinese characters and their ability to use Chinese characters flexibly.

From the perspective of second language acquisition, based on the HSK dynamic composition corpus, this paper studies the misuse of Grade A Chinese characters in the Chinese Proficiency Vocabulary and Chinese Character Grade Outline. First, it collects the statistical data on the Chinese character Bias and analyze their types. Second, it studies the difficulty of acquisition and the order of acquisition of foreign students’ grades A Chinese characters. Finally, from the perspective of the characteristics of Chinese characters and the law of language acquisition, the paper proposes countermeasures related to teaching Chinese characters in the second language acquisition courses.

Over time, there appear dynamic processes, changes in the urban environment and increasing demands on urban lifestyles, which necessitate the need to know the economic, structural and socio-demographic nature of urbanism. This subject is extremely broad, so only the urban planning characteristics of the medieval Chinese capital Chang’an, now – Xi’an, are briefly considered here. The article proposes that landscape art in China is based on the park structure with its components and their importance, focusing mainly on plant elements as basic material in the construction of three-dimensional compositions. The design of the park spaces is also connected with the spatial modeling of the landscape, taking into account the importance of color and perspective. Various classifications of parks are considered – by function, size, construction style and location. Sustainable characteristics of Chinese architecture and park art are outlined, as well as various basic elements used in the construction of gardens and parks in China. Modern parks with their landscaping, flowers, water areas, traditional Chinese style pavilions, recreation areas, attractions, etc. provide aesthetic joy and a place of relaxation and social contacts for different generations of Chinese people and guests of the Celestial Empire. Park art in China and its examples from ancient times are the best evidence of the synthesis of natural assets and the efforts of architects, urbanists, sculptors and artists in the name of beauty.

The economies of Central and Eastern Europe and China are highly complementary, and there is huge potential for our economic and trade cooperation. Since the first China-CEEC leaders’ meeting in 2012, the “16+1” cooperation mechanism has played an important role in the concrete economic and trade cooperation between the two sides. It has not only served as an important platform for the in-depth implementation of the “One Belt – One Road” initiative in the CEE region, but also served as an incubator for the concrete results of China-CEEC economic and trade cooperation. Guided by the China-CEEC leaders’ meeting, “16+1” cooperation has grown stronger and expanded in areas of cooperation. More than 20 platforms have been set up and over 200 specific measures have been put forward. The mechanism has grown into a more mature and influential trans-regional cooperation mechanism. China’s economy is in the transition period of improving the quality and growth rate. Domestic overcapacity is in urgent need of overseas markets, and investment demand is strong. At the same time, CEEC have poor infrastructure, large investment and financing gaps, and are faced with the need to develop the economy and improve people’s livelihood. Therefore, the “One Belt – One Road” initiative comes at the right time and serves as an accelerator for the docking of the strategic needs of both sides. However, the progress of the “One Belt – One Road” initiative in CEE countries is fraught with uncertainties, risks and challenges. CEEC face complex domestic problems and high political risks in economic and trade investment. During the implementation of the “One Belt – One Road” initiative, some CEEC had doubts and concerns about China. In promoting economic and trade cooperation between China and the CEE countries in the context of the “One Belt – One Road”, both sides need to face up to emerging problems and challenges, strengthen policy communication, give full play to the role of the institutionalized exchange platform established by both sides, further deepen bilateral economic and trade cooperation, develop bilateral cultural exchanges and promote the healthy development of the free trade system.

The article explores the concept of ‘long’ (Chinese dragon) in Chinese linguistic culture. It analyzes the representation of mythonyms connected with ‘long’ in myths, fairytales and proverbs.

At the beginning of the second decade of the 21st century the German government developed a concept called Industrie 4.0 (Industry 4.0), which was first introduced in 2011 at the Hannover Messe. This same fair set up a working group of academic and university officials, managers and practitioners from the practice, headed by Siegfried Dais from “Robert Bosch GmbH” and Henning Kabermann from the German Academy of Science and Engineering – a former senior executive leader of Europe’s largest software provider – “SAP AG”. After Germany, a number of countries from East and Southeast Asia developed similar concepts: Japan came up with the “Society 5.0” Model, Singapore – with the “Smart Society” concept, Thailand – with the “Thailand 4.0” idea, and China – with the “Innovations 2020” program. At the 48th annual World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, held in January 2018, the aforementioned post-industrial paradigm was officially named “The Fourth Industrial Revolution”.

This article examines the reengineering of communication policies for Chinese tourists in Bulgaria, covering factors related to economic realities and typological similarities from antiquity. The survey shows that a policy should be devised according to the profile and opportunities of tourists, their profession and preferences. A number of areas are emerging in which further research should be conducted on how to respond to expectations and demands, and a model for continuous improvement of communication policies is proposed.

The political cartoon is an instrument for symbolic image creation and interpretation. In the mass audience’s perception, it is a media entertainment technique. However, it is an important nonverbal information channel respecting the vision of the artist who is watching the world as a public mocking-bird; his comments may exaggerate circumstances but never change facts. Entering the mass media sphere, it has swiftly gone beyond the national perception framework. A successful cartoon is a critical social supervisor and stimulator; in the media space it is a creator of news infotainment. This article is the result of the first Bulgarian academic attempt to examine its role in the East-West communication relationship, positioning China as a specific epicenter. The outcome has answered the researcher’s initial question: in respect to the holistic perception of international communication, is it compulsory for the recipient to be well-acquainted with various knowledge fields relevant to the correlation between national culture and international intercultural contextuality.

Matteo Ricci or Limadou, as he was called in China, was a Jesuit of Italian descent who came to live in China during the Ming dynasty. He was one of the pioneers of the Catholic Church in China, and also the first Western scholar to read, study and translate Chinese literature and the Chinese classics. He made an important contribution to the exchange between the Chinese and the Western cultures. This paper reveals some of the reasons why his attempts to spread Christianity in China remained fruitless.

Breaking cultural barriers via language to achieve effective communication and understanding, manifesting the national image and enhancing international contacts and cooperation have become the main tasks of international publicity translation (IPT) in the diversified world today. The convergence between IPT, “Identification”, and communication provides a new perspective for studying IPT. A novel communication model of IPT is constructed on the basis of the “Lasswell’s 5W” model from the perspective of “Identification” in Kenneth Burke’s New Rhetoric Theory. By analyzing the communication effects of C-E translation of Premier Li Keqiang’s important speeches, this piece of research demonstrates the necessity and possibility of bringing “identification” strategies into IPT activities. After penetrating the factors functioning on communication effects of IPT, strategies such as using “effective replacement of person” and “receiver-friendly expression” are found to serve the purpose of IPT well.

The paper shows how the Chinese community is represented in contemporary Bulgarian audio-visual space, documentary cinema and verbatim theatre. The analysis traces the different narrative strategies for problem articulation and interpretation against the backdrop of Bulgarian society in endless transition. The problem of ‘the other’, ‘the foreigner’ in Bulgarian culture, in Bulgarian films and on Bulgarian stage has undergone various transformations and taken on new dimensions over time. It is of paramount importance to see how this image of ‘the other’, ‘the Chinese”, ‘the Asian’ is contaminated with national stereotypes for better understanding and tracing the processes of globalization. Are we open to hearing the hidden voice of the Chinese migrant in our society?

During the period under discussion the idea of the Chinese language underwent a substantial change. While in the seventeenth century – when Britain was in the grip of a powerful sinophile sentiment – many intellectuals were inclined to view the language and the writing system of the Middle Kingdom favorably, seeing in the Chinese characters a remnant of the first human language, during the eighteenth and the nineteenth centuries the popular views changed and the Chinese language was examined with a more critical eye. The paper discusses these changes, focusing on a few authors whose views can be considered fairly representative of the prevalent societal trends at the time. Among the authors I discuss are John Bell, Samuel Johnson, Francis Bacon and John Webb.

In this article the author traces a connection between travelling and cultural practices inspired by it – paintings and exhibitions on the one hand and exchange of ideas and traditions on the other, all based on his own experience. Mythology, philosophy and religion provoke special interest – the synthesis between ideas, images, beliefs, customs and rituals, summarized in the “three teachings” (san jiao), i.e. Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism, transformed in the syncretism of folklore cults and artistically rethought in the traditional forms of art that nourish one’s creative imagination. The landmarks and places visited combine Chinese ancient grandeur and modern power, which inspire the author’s creativity as an artist. Every trip to China is clearly expressed in his creative pursuits: over 60 paintings, participation in seven exhibitions in the PRC – three of which were solo, and the book The Road. The Dragon. The Artist. The author defends his thesis that the mission of the artist is to make the art and the culture of one’s own nation more understandable and well-known. He is convinced that to be able to synthesize intercultural communication in today‘s world, one should – step by step – interact with other cultures, in order to follow the path of mutual understanding.

The article focuses on the most popular and widely used smartphone applications in China and their rapid development. The research is based on personal observations made by the author while conducting field work in Beijing during the period between the beginning of September 2017 the end of January 2018. The first application discussed in this work is WeChat, which started as just a social media platform but quickly became much more than that. It now contains various services, the most important one being WeChat Pay. Then we move on to Taobao and Meituan-Dianpin. Taobao is a website and an application for online shopping where one can buy almost anything, and Meituan is an app where food can be ordered from a vast choice of establishments offering local or international cuisine or goods from supermarkets. The latter two applications are Jing Dong – similar to Taobao, but focused on selling electronics and other pieces of technology – and DiDi Chixing which is the equivalent of Uber and mainly offers ride-hailing services.

Short novel from Ivan Vazov, often referred to as “the Patriarch of Bulgarian literature”, “Valko in the War” is the first Bulgarian literature, which was first introduced to Chinese readers. The interpreter of this novel is Lu Xun, one of the leading figures of modern Chinese literature. Together with his brother, he initiated the movement to translate literary works from “underprivileged nations” from the Central and Eastern Europe. The movement is part of the ideological tendency in China in the early 20th century to look abroad in search of experience and ways to save the country from the imperialist invasion of the Great Powers. This is also the main reason for the entire treasury of Bulgarian literature Lu Xun to choose exactly Vazov and his Valko: the main features in the character of Valko and Vazov himself are also leading virtues in the struggle for independence of the Chinese nation.

Along with the acceleration of the global integration process, the relations between countries are becoming closer and closer. Transnational cooperation is becoming common. ‘Screen cooperation’ is one of the examples. Moreland more foreigners appear on Chinese screens, Chinese actors and actresses have also earned a presence all over the world. The roles they play are all in foreign cultures and reflect intercultural communication. By analyzing the intercultural communication factors in the movies “Pushing Hands” and “Serial (Bad) Weddings”, we see that after receiving better knowledge of intercultural communications, we can better understand and cope with cultural collisions, which are often generated during intercultural communication. This can help to reduce cultural conflicts, enhance communication and common understanding, and improve people’s lives in a foreign culture.

This paper is an overview of the Summer Camp Chinese Bridge for Youths of the Belt and Road Initiative Partner Countries organized in China from August 2nd to August 15th, 2019. The summer camp was themed “Experiencing Chinese Martial Arts – Tai Ji” and was hosted by Beijing Language and Culture University and Henan Polytechnic University. This study discusses the summer camp program, the participants’ study background and the importance of such exchange activities in the near future.