KFU visited by representatives of China Institute of International Studies
Kazan Federal University hosted a delegation from the China Institute of International Studies. The guests visited the Museum of the History of Kazan University and the Institute of International Relations, History and Eastern Studies, and met with the university’s leadership. Vice-Rector for International Affairs Timirkhan Alishev spoke about the university’s long history of Chinese language teaching, its research areas, and joint projects.
The delegation included Vice-President Liu Qing, Director of the Institute of Eurasian Studies Li Ziguo, and Deputy Head of the Human Resources Department Jing Xiaoyu. As is customary, the visit began at the History Museum. The guests learned about major milestones in the university’s history, its leading scholars, and former students who went on to become famous, including Vladimir Lenin and Leo Tolstoy.
“One of Russia’s first departments of Chinese was established here at Kazan University. You could say that this is the birthplace of Chinese language teaching in Russia. Today, the university is actively training Chinese language teachers for general education schools across the Russian Federation,” Timirkhan Alishev noted.
According to the vice-rector, the university is actively developing its natural sciences disciplines, including chemistry, biology, and physics.
“We work closely with our Chinese colleagues in biomedicine and the oil and gas sector. We have institutes conducting research in fundamental mathematics and mechanics, as well as artificial intelligence, robotics, and engineering. I would particularly like to highlight the humanities, which account for 65 percent of our students,” Alishev said.
The vice-rector also emphasized the importance of the international forum ROSTKI.
“The university is responsible for the agenda relating to education, culture, and people-to-people contacts,” he explained.
In addition, the vice-rector spoke about the Russian-Chinese Network University of High Technology (CRUTech).
“We currently serve as the lead university on the Russian side of the consortium of teacher-training universities as well,” Alishev elaborated.
Liu Qing thanked the university for the invitation and highlighted KFU’s importance.
“Many renowned Sinologists and experts studying Chinese philosophy and culture work, or have worked, at your university,” he said.
Li Ziguo noted the strengthening of economic cooperation between China and Russia.
“Economic cooperation between China and Russia is growing stronger by the day. We would be delighted to welcome Kazan Federal University students for internships at our institute,” said the director of the Institute of Eurasian Studies.
Currently, 1,469 citizens of the People’s Republic of China study at Kazan University, including 115 enrolled under government scholarships.