News – Russian Government

As part of a working visit to the People’s Republic of China in the city of Hangzhou, Deputy Prime Minister of Russia Dmitry Chernyshenko assessed the infrastructure of Zhejiang University, and also talked with its leadership and students.

Secretary of the Party Committee of Zhejiang University Ren Shaobo said that the university is one of the oldest universities in China and is one of the leading universities in the country. It employs more than 9 thousand employees and teachers, and more than 70 thousand students study. Particular attention is paid to the field of artificial intelligence and new technologies. He noted that the university is actively collaborating with Russian universities: Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University, St. Petersburg State University and Moscow Aviation Institute. Academic exchange and educational cooperation take place in areas such as materials science, aerospace engineering and linguistics.

At the meeting, the parties exchanged views on the development of educational programs in the field of artificial intelligence. In addition, Dmitry Chernyshenko talked with Russian students studying at the university. Master’s student Anna Wang shared her impressions of her studies in detail.

The Deputy Prime Minister emphasized that, at the initiative of the heads of two states – Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping – 2026–2027 were declared cross years in education.

“I am convinced that this will allow us to concentrate our efforts on key projects of interuniversity cooperation. Today, over 56 thousand Chinese students study in Russian universities in all forms of education. In turn, there are more than 20 thousand of our students in China. Over the long period of our productive cooperation, we have already had many successful joint projects,” said Dmitry Chernyshenko.

Among the examples, he cited the expansion by the Far Eastern Federal University of the network of Russian language centers in the PRC on the basis of secondary schools in China, the selection this year of 15 scientific projects in priority areas of industrial development of the two countries, as well as a joint project of the M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University and the Beijing Polytechnic Institute – MSU University – PPI in Shenzhen.

Dmitry Chernyshenko conveyed proposals from Russian universities to strengthen cooperation. It is proposed, among other things, to conclude an agreement between the Russian consortium “Synergy” and Zhejiang University. In addition, taking into account the experience of interaction with Zhejiang University, it is proposed to make Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University an anchor partner on the Russian side. The Russian Deputy Prime Minister passed on the initiative to test international cooperation within the framework of the “Advanced Engineering Schools” project with the Kazan Federal University. He proposed putting these initiatives on the agenda of the next meeting of the subcommittee on scientific and technical cooperation of the Russian-Chinese Commission for the preparation of regular meetings of heads of government – Mikhail Mishustin and Li Qiang.

“The scientific and technological agenda is one of the key ones in the world. The leaders of our countries have relied on maintaining technological leadership in all areas, including economics, so it is necessary to establish connections between our leading higher education centers. The effectiveness of such cooperation will depend on how quickly and openly we act. I thank the university leadership for your time and open dialogue. I am confident in our effective joint cooperation,” concluded Dmitry Chernyshenko.

In conclusion, the Deputy Chairman of the Russian Government added that a delegation from Sberbank PJSC would soon arrive at Zhejiang University.

From the Russian side, the event was also attended by Deputy Minister of Science and Higher Education Konstantin Mogilevsky and co-chairman of the subcommittee on scientific and technical cooperation of the Russian-Chinese Commission for the preparation of regular meetings of heads of government, Deputy Minister of Science and Higher Education Denis Sekirinsky.

Continuing the visit to the university, the Russian delegation visited the Museum of Scientific and Technical Innovations and the State Laboratory of Hydraulic Drive and Mechatronic Systems.