Photo: kremlin.ru
The exchanges between Russian and Chinese universities have become much more frequent recently, Russian President Vladimir Putin noted at the ceremony, where Chinese President Xi Jinping received the title of honorary doctor of the St. Petersburg State University, the Kremlin website reports.
According to Putin, about ninety thousand people are involved in inter-university exchanges, including not only students, but also graduate students and scientists. It proves that the younger generation of both countries and the scientific community wish to establish contacts and have an interest in exploring the rich Russian and Chinese traditions and modern achievements.
The Russian President called St. Petersburg State University one of the leaders of Russian-Chinese scientific cooperation. The university where Vladimir Putin himself studied also has the status of a leading center for studying China, its language, culture and history. The best sinologists of the world work in Saint-Petersburg, he added. The scientific school of sinology was opened at the university in the nineteenth century. Nowadays, the university boasts several dozen educational programs aimed at developing cooperation with China.
Almost two thousand Chinese students are studying at the university now. St. Petersburg State University maintains partnerships with many research centers in China.
Xi Jinping, in his turn, promised that Russia and China would increase the number of students visiting these countries to one hundred thousand by next year.
He expressed confidence that strengthening cooperation in education is one of the key ways for the development of mutual understanding and friendly ties between nations.
The Chinese leader noted that contacts between universities were expanding, and currently about nine hundred institutions of higher education have entered into agreements.
According to Xi Jinping, it depends on the younger generation how the relations of the two great nations are going to unfold.
Russkiy Mir
