8th annual Volga-Yangtze University Association forum held with participation by Vice Premier of China Zhang Guoqing and Rais of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov
Volga-Yangtze is a unique format for the development of economic, cultural and humanitarian cooperation between the regions of Russia and China, implemented on behalf of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Today the Forum was attended by 30 representatives of 9 Chinese universities and 35 representatives of 20 Russian universities. Igor Komarov, Plenipotentiary Representative of the President of the Russian Federation in the Volga Federal District, Marat Khusnullin, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, Rais of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov, and Rector of KFU Lenar Safin attended the event as guests of honor. The Chinese delegation was headed by Zhang Guoqing, Vice Premier of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China.
The Rector of Kazan University called the activities of the Volga-Yangtze Association a vivid example of successful interregional relations in the spheres of education, science, and youth policy, “Kazan Federal University actively participates in events and initiatives held under the auspices of the Association, as the universities that make up the Association have a high scientific and educational potential, with the unification of which it is possible to achieve all the goals set at a high level. I am confident that today’s Forum will make a significant contribution to strengthening scientific, educational and cultural exchange between Russia and China, and will continue the good traditions of cooperation between our countries.”
Rustam Minnikhanov also noted the important contribution of the Association to the formation of long-term partnership relations between the two countries.
“The Volga-Yangtze Association gave a start to the beginning of the inter-university Russian-Chinese dialog in 2017 and became a tool for deepening educational and scientific ties between our countries. This year the Forum is held for the first time in Tatarstan, which is rightfully among the growth drivers of the Eurasian scientific and educational space, as well as a point of attraction for students from all over the world,” he said.
According to the Rais, Chinese students, of whom there are over 2,700 in the province, are showing discipline, perseverance, diligence, tireless pursuit of knowledge, and deep passion for education.
Igor Komarov, in turn, told the participants and guests of the Forum that he considers the Association to be a promising platform and an effective driver for the development of student, academic, and scientific cooperation between Russian and Chinese universities.
“Today, Russian-Chinese inter-university cooperation is developing dynamically in the Volga Federal District. Currently, about 60 universities located in the territory of the district interact with more than 220 universities of various provinces of China. They have concluded 240 agreements and contracts,” said the Plenipotentiary Representative.
Zhang Guoqing called the forum the flagship of Russian-Chinese educational cooperation. In his opinion, universities of both countries should take advantage of this chance and favorable conditions for strengthening inter-university dialog.
“Today Russian-Chinese cooperation in the Volga-Yangtze format is deepening and expanding. It is important to build up scientific and technical cooperation in advanced industries, pay special attention to the training of qualified personnel, expand the channels of youth exchanges. All this contributes to strengthening the traditional friendship between our regions,” noted the Vice Premier.
Marat Khusnullin agreed that the potential of such a successful partnership should be actively developed.
“We see how the number of joint educational and scientific projects is growing, how the program of student and teacher exchange is expanding. However, in the era of rapid changes, when new technologies and knowledge appear at an incredible speed, it is especially important to prepare our young people for the challenges of the future. It is universities that play a key role in this process. Therefore, I wish all forum participants interesting discussions, search for new solutions, useful ideas and generally successful work,” said Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation.
The main topics of discussion of the 8th Forum of the Volga-Yangtze Association were the development of academic and youth ties with universities, adaptation and transformation of higher education in the era of digital technologies and artificial intelligence, implementation of joint educational programs, and many other issues.
Among KFU’s partners in the region are Sichuan University, Wuhan University, Southwest Petroleum University, and Hunan Normal University (KFU’s oldest partner in China and co-organizer of the KFU Confucius Institute). Our university opened its first preparatory programs in schools of Sichuan Province in 2019.
In general, Chinese studies at Kazan University are represented by various areas of work. Today, more than 2,000 Chinese students study at KFU, and student exchange programs are being developed. Network educational programs of the university’s preparatory faculty were launched in a number of schools and universities in China last year. 1,000 students study the Chinese language with the purpose of teaching, translating, working in organizations and departments responsible for the development of cooperation with China.
Scientific and innovation partnership is also actively developing. KFU has more than 60 partnership agreements with educational institutions, research centers and industrial companies of China, including PetroChina, Haier, Huawei, and many others.
The cooperation covers such areas as geology and petrochemistry, information technology, medicine and biotechnology, international relations and pedagogy.