China’s ‘beautiful interpreter’ Zhang Jing is setting social media alight – who is the surprise star of the US-China Alaska summit compared to actress Zhao Wei and called a ‘cold-faced goddess’?
While many were focusing on the nail-bitingly high tensions of the US-China summit recently held in Alaska, plenty of others found their attentions drifting elsewhere – namely, towards interpreter Zhang Jing. She stole the limelight with her eloquent, fluent translation for China’s foreign policy chief Yang Jiechi, and nicknames such as “China’s most beautiful interpreter” began to surface on Chinese social media, praising Zhang not just for her admirable translating skills, but her grace and beauty, too. Some even dubbed her an “interpreter goddess”. Yikes –so who is the woman behind the noise?
English was an early interest
Zhang was born in Hangzhou, and her love for the English language was evident since she was young, while most of the cartoons she watched were in English. According to a profile on Tencent’s news website qq.com, Zhang was a very determined child and aspired to become a diplomat from a young age.
She was a hardworking student and was accepted into the prestigious Hangzhou Foreign Languages School, where she received a scholarship to go on a 10-day trip to the UK. During her travels, Zhang gained a lot of experience and developed her English speaking skills while making new friends.
She won debate prizes
After graduating from high school, she was admitted to Chinese Foreign Affairs University and majored in English language without having to go through the college exams, turning down the opportunities to study in two other highly ranked schools in China – Peking University and Tsinghua University.
As a university student, Zhang improved her speaking skills by taking part in debate competitions. She won the first prize in the 10th Foreign Research Association Cup and was the second runner-up in the 10th 21st Century Cup.
She’s known as a hard worker
Her hard work paid off: her English proficiency got the attention of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who offered her a job. In 2007, Zhang was one of over 200 translators who joined the department.
Over the years, Zhang went on to do plenty of foreign affairs assignments, appearing at press conferences as an interpreter. She was recognised for her smooth, world-class interpretation at the 12th National People’s Congress in 2013, according to Sohu.com.
She has been called a “cold beauty”
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- Zhang Jing went viral for her eloquent translation of China’s foreign policy chief Yang Jiechi’s speech at the US-China summit in Alaska
- She turned down offers from Tsinghua and Peking University to pursue her dream, and classmates called her ‘Little Zhao Wei’ for her resemblance to the actress