The 89th Universal Esperanto Congress held Sunday in Beijing marks the centennial anniversary of the universal language's journey to China.

Based on Indo-European languages, Esperanto is created by Polish oculist L. L. Zamenhof as a universal language to eliminate language barriers between nations.

It spread mostly among European countries, including France, Britain, The Netherlands, Germany, Hungary as well as Japan in Asia.

Introduced to China in early 1900s by Russian businessmen and Chinese students in Britain and France, Esperanto thrived in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Wuhan. Chinese intellectuals were attracted by its efficient communication and cosmopolitanism ideal.

A number of Chinese elite intellectuals wrote books in Esperanto or translated Esperanto versions of Russian and East European works in the 1920s.

All-China Esperanto League was set up in Beijing with branches in Shanghai, Chengdu, Chongqin and Wuhan in 1951.

The 71st Universal Esperanto Congress was held in Beijing in 1986, which was coupled by a sudden Esperanto boom, more than 400,000 Chinese learning to speak the language.