Poised, skillful China translator wins praise - and many hearts

Zhang Jing, dubbed "China's most beautiful interpreter" who left many in awe during the China-US summit in Alaska, has always dreamed of being a diplomat.

Online users were impressed by Zhang's English translation of State Councillor Yang Jiechi's 16-minute speech at the summit on Friday - and it did not go unnoticed by the top diplomats.

Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and national security adviser Jake Sullivan had lashed out at China for its internal and external policies.

Yang subsequently refuted the claims off-script.

After concluding his 16-minute speech, Yang said: "It's a test for the interpreter."

Blinken added: "We're going to give the translator a raise."

According to her secondary school English teacher, Zhang was always a focused person who knew at a very young age what she wanted for her career.

"Zhang had been capable of entering top universities like Peking University and Tsinghua University, but she chose to go to China Foreign Affairs University to one day serve her country at the ministry of foreign affairs," her teacher said.

Zhang's high school classmate at Hangzhou Foreign Languages School said she was an all-round high achiever.

"She was always among the top five in terms of her academic results in all subjects and she would either be champion or first runner-up in the school's English public speaking competitions," her classmate said.

Zhang has earned a lot of fans on social media following her accurate translations into English of several speeches by the Chinese delegation - some of which were over 10 minutes long.

She gained online praise for showing "the elegant demeanor of China's diplomats in the new era."

A photo with the hashtag in Chinese, "she is the on-site translator at high-level China-US talks," has gone viral on Weibo with over 400 million views.

"[Zhang] helped convey China's voice to the world through her specialty," a commenter on Weibo wrote.

A university student in Beijing majoring in translation, citing Zhang as an inspiration, said: "I also want to use my specialty to contribute to my country's diplomacy and I will go on improving myself."

Zhang is a senior interpreter at the foreign affairs ministry, which she joined in 2007.

She has undertaken many tasks for the Communist Party and state leaders in diplomatic activities.

Zhang earlier gained media attention during a National People's Congress press conference in 2013, when many commented on her resemblance to actress Zhao Wei.

Her husband is also a Chinese diplomat, according to online information.