The English language is, of course, generally recognized as the major international language. At the last century and nowadays we can witness greater influx of loan words via modern international communication. The study of the Chinese loanwords in English is particularly interesting in current period of strong cultural and economic interaction. The more contacts, the more loan words the language have; in this context, from my point of view, the most significant period of Chinese borrowing dates back to the early 20th century and to the present day. This period is related to the announcement of a new economic direction in China in 1978. China has taken on the task of integrating the internal market into the global one in economy. Cultural openness has brought the Western world to be increasingly interested in Chinese history and philosophy. The main source of borrowing is the official language of China – Putonghua, also called Standard Mandarin. During this period, words reflecting the culture, realities and specificities of the Chinese sociopolitical system are actively borrowed. In this article we compare and contrast borrowings before the Reform and Opening-up (when food, drink and dress borrowings are dominant) and right after (when a huge number aspects of life are involved). The borrowings of Chinese words became a link between western and eastern cultures. Through them, the English-speaking population gained a fuller understanding of the facts and phenomena of Chinese socio-cultural tradition and modernity.