The present study aims to analyse the theory of ecotranslatology developed by the Chinese translator and theorist Hu Gengshen. The authors pay great attention to the application of its basic principles to teaching translation in general, and to the development of translation skills of Chinese students in particular. The main research methods are descriptive and comparative analysis, the systematization of language material, contextual analysis, and component analysis. In the course of the study, an experiment was conducted in which more than 30 Chinese students took part. Authentic texts of works of Russian fiction were used for the study. By analysing the examples of the translation of the works of A. P. Chekhov and N. A. Taffy into Chinese, the authors of this article demonstrate the main difficulties encountered in the practice of translation. A number of recommendations are given to help Chinese students develop translation skills from Russian into Chinese. In their conclusions, the authors point out that when teaching translation, it is necessary to draw students’ attention to the careful study of scientific works on the theory of translation, develop a sense of language, expand their working vocabulary so as not to lose the emotional colouring of the work in the process of translation, and remember that the study of phraseological units is a cognitive process.