University to cooperate with China Daily Group
Kazan Federal University takes part in the BRICS Young Leaders Forum New Opportunities for a Common Future on 25 September. As part of the event, KFU and the XXI Century newspaper of China Daily Group signed a memorandum of understanding.
The youth forum was attended by Wang Gang, Deputy Head of the Propaganda Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, Zhang Hanhui, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the People’s Republic of China to Russia, Xiang Bo, Consul General of the People’s Republic of China in Kazan, Leila Fazleeva, Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Tatarstan, Rinat Sadykov, Minister of Youth Affairs of Tatarstan, Timirkhan Alishev, Vice-Rector for International Affairs of KFU, and others.
“We adhere to the principles of openness, respect, and building a global community. But it is necessary to strengthen and cultural exchanges, to learn and respect and understand each other,” pointed out Wang Gang in his greeting.
Taking the opportunity, he addressed the youth.
“Building a modern prosperous society requires the responsibility of young people to our future, deepening relations, building communication bridges between our countries,” said the deputy head of the Propaganda Department of the CPC Central Committee. “Now we are witnessing changes. Today we are meeting new challenges – environmental security, climate change, and other issues that should become key issues for discussion. We are developing the exchange of information and knowledge and thereby increasing the wisdom of young people.”
BRICS countries are finding new points for development in various spheres of activity – these include transition to information economy, development of alternative energy sources, and space exploration, among others.
“We hope that the youth will continue to establish diplomatic relations and they will pioneer the construction of new projects to expand the horizons of innovation,” the guest of honor said.
Concluding his speech, Wang Gang emphasized that the countries of the union should uphold the idea of common destiny and, based on common ties, enhance prosperity, strengthen friendship and trust, create the future, and make joint contributions to humanity.
Ambassador Zhang expressed confidence that at the upcoming BRICS summit in Kazan, the leaders of the BRICS countries will “synchronize their watches” on such issues as strengthening the BRICS cooperation mechanism and protecting international justice. According to him, this will lead to the development of new important agreements.
“As the chairing country, Russia has done significant work in organizing this year’s summit. China highly appreciates these efforts and will continue to assist Russia in fulfilling its chairmanship,” he said.
It should be noted that students of Kazan University – both from Russia and China, as well as representatives of local youth organizations – took part in the event, which was large-scale and pertinent in anticipation of the BRICS summit. Sergei Shakhrai, one of the authors of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, spoke via video conference.
“Youth policy is a priority task of socio-economic development of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Tatarstan,” Leila Fazleeva greeted the forum participants on behalf of Rustam Minnikhanov, the Governor of Tatarstan. “Undoubtedly, the youth is the future of the country, as it is a strategic resource of the society and the state. All conditions for the development and self-realization of young people have been created in our Republic, social infrastructure is being updated, projects are being successfully implemented. International, all-Russian and local youth events are organized at a high level.”
The Minister of Youth Affairs of the Republic of Tatarstan noted that young people are the most active part of the province’s population. Today the total number of young people in Tatarstan is more than 1 million, which is almost a quarter of the total population.
The key events of the forum were the signing ceremonies of cooperation agreements and the release of the Initiatives for the Development of Youth Cooperation within the BRICS Cooperation Mechanism.
Kazan Federal University and XXI Century newspaper signed a memorandum of understanding. The document was signed by Timirkhan Alishev and Ceng Qingkai, Editor-in-Chief of the newspaper. The purpose of the memorandum is to develop international cooperation and strengthen contacts in science and education, in particular, to promote cooperation in such areas as language teaching and learning, expansion of academic exchanges and others. The memorandum will be valid for three years with the possibility of renewal.
“We now expect to strengthen cooperation between media representatives of the states and higher educational institutions. Moreover, we welcome the establishment of new platforms, cultural and positive innovations and trends,” said Ji Tao, editorial board member of China Daily Group.
In addition, a cooperation agreement was signed between the newspaper and Tatar-Inform, the official news agency of the Republic of Tatarstan. The signatories are Mr Ceng and Rinat Bilalov, Editor-in-Chief of the Tatar-Inform news agency and Deputy Director General of Tatmedia JSC.
The forum New Opportunities for a Common Future continued with a series of speeches and a round table, which was attended by representatives from Russia, China, Iran, and South Africa.