Chen Xu visits universities in St. Petersburg, Russia

--Promoting technological cooperation and people-to-people exchange between China and Russia

From December 4th to 5th, Chen Xu, the Chairperson of the University Council of Tsinghua, led a delegation to St. Petersburg, Russia, in order to promote scientific and technological cooperation as well as people-to-people exchange between Chinese and Russian higher education institutions. The visit by Tsinghua, through concrete activities, applied the 2017-2020 implementation guideline for the China-Russia Treaty of Good-Neighborliness, Friendship and Cooperation, ratified by the leaders of the two countries. During the visit to Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University and Saint Petersburg University, the delegation held in-depth discussions on inter-university strategic cooperation, injecting new energy into the implementation of Tsinghua’s Global Strategy and the exchanges between China and Russia on education, science, technology and culture.

On December 4th, the “Tsinghua University Day” series of events were held at Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University. Chen Xu noted in her talk that St. Petersburg Polytechnic University is a famous comprehensive university celebrated for its advantages in engineering, and it has trained a multitude of talents for Russia and the world. She believes that with the success of “Tsinghua University Day”, the two universities would have closer cooperation in broader fields and on a deeper level.

Rector A.I. Rudskoy of Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University spoke highly of the international reputation and academic strength of Tsinghua and said he had high expectations from the strategic partnership between the two universities.

Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University awarded an honorary doctorate to Chen Xu to commend her achievements in academic research and higher education management, her contribution in promoting friendly cooperation between the two universities and in Sino-Russian education and people-to-people exchange. Rector Rudskoy presided over the conferment ceremony and congratulated Chen Xu for becoming the first and youngest foreign female recipient of the honorary doctorate.

In recent years, Tsinghua and St. Petersburg Polytechnic University have been vigorously promoting communication and collaboration in many areas such as aeronautics and astronautics, industrial engineering, materials science, mechanical engineering and social sciences. To further upgrade research collaborations between the two universities, the two sides have signed a Memorandum of Understanding on scientific and technological cooperation between Tsinghua University and St. Petersburg Polytechnic University, which aims to promote jointly conducted research projects, student and faculty exchange, and lab co-construction.

Chen Xu also visited the joint lab co-developed by the two universities, as well as St. Petersburg Polytechnic University’s research centers and labs. She spoke with the researchers in these labs and learned about the university’s latest research developments and the transformation of these achievements.

During the “Tsinghua University Day at St. Petersburg Polytechnic University”, Tsinghua University held an international education exhibition at St. Petersburg Polytechnic University to present Tsinghua’s accomplishments and introduce key measures for implementing Tsinghua’s Global Strategy to make the university more international. Meanwhile, a special exhibition on the communication and cooperation between the two universities was held to review the history and the achievements. Chen Xu and Rector Rudskoy attended the exhibition together with faculty and students from St. Petersburg Polytechnic, and interacted with the Chinese and Russian students present on the occasion.

On December 5th, Chen Xu visited Saint Petersburg University. She held a talk with Rector Nikolay Kropachev and signed a Memorandum of Understanding between the two universities.

Chen Xu noted during the talk that the cooperation between the two universities is of great significance forpromoting Sino-Russian people-to-people exchange, and hoped that the two universities would strengthen cooperation in talent training and jointly nurture the world’s future leaders. Kropachev noted that Saint Petersburg University places great importance on the cooperation with Tsinghua and hopes to explore more fields of cooperation in the future.

Dmitry Mezentsev, an alumnus of Saint Petersburg University, a Member of the Russian Federation Council, Chairman of the Russia-China Friendship Association, and the former Secretary General of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, also attended the talk.

During her visit, Chen Xu presented the Russian edition of Xi Jinping: The Governance of China to Saint Petersburg University and the Russia-China Friendship Association, and introduced the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China. She also visited the Museum of History of Saint Petersburg University that day.

(By Zhu Lvhe, Wendy Liu, and Matthew Nunez)