SANYA, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- An international translation contest focusing on the Belt and Road (B&R) kicked off Saturday in the city of Sanya, south China's Hainan Province.

Hosted by the Translators Association of China (TAC), the year-long contest will include competitions of interpreting and translation between Chinese and languages of B&R countries, such as English, French, Russian, Spanish, Arabic and Thai.

Fang Zhenghui, deputy director of the China Foreign Languages Publishing Administration, said it is essential to beef up the cultivation of translation talents and accelerate the development of high-quality professional translators to enhance the people-to-people connectivity among B&R countries.

By the end of October, China had signed B&R cooperation documents with 137 countries and 30 international organizations.

The contest will attract and gather international language talents and promote the economic and cultural exchanges between Hainan and B&R countries to push forward the free trade port construction, said Fang.