The heads of some of China's and Russia's leading universities met recently to discuss Chinese-Russian cooperation in the scientific and educational fields.

The Rectors Forum took place at the Lomonosov Moscow State University as a part of the XVII session of the Russian-Chinese Commission for Humanitarian Cooperation. The discussion involved a wide range of issues, including Chinese universities participating in academic exchanges and the development of the youth intellectual competition system.

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"This forum will go down in the history of relations between our countries," said Victor Sadovnichiy, Rector of the Moscow State University (MSU).

He said the implementation of the state strategy depends on the efficiency of Russia's and China's scientific and educational cooperation. He noted that the first contacts in the field of education and science between Russia and China began during the early 17th century.

The forum resulted in the Declaration to establish the "Association of Universities of the Russian Federation and the People's Republic of China" signed by Sadovnichy and Zhu Shanglu, Chairman of the Beijing University Council.

In addition, agreements about the cooperation in various spheres of activity were signed between the specialized educational institutions of China and Russia. Among these are medical and technical sciences, linguistics, public administration, education, agriculture and transport.

Representatives of student sports organizations signed a memorandum of intent to the Russian-Chinese student festival of winter sports. Fifteen agreements were signed between universities and research and educational organizations of China and Russia.

Currently, 200 Russian and 600 Chinese universities have established partnerships in areas that are strategically important to both countries. They have concluded over 900 direct contracts with each other and have created eight professional associations of Russian and Chinese universities.

There are about 25,000 Chinese students studying in Russian universities while 17,000 Russian students are studying in China. There are 1,500 Chinese students enrolled at Moscow University, a number that might increase to 100,000 in the future.

Shenzhen is working on building a joint Chinese-Russian university. This university is a cooperative project of MSU and the Beijing University of Technology.

The architectural foundation for the new university's future building will be similar to the main building at MSU. Construction of this building should be completed by late 2018. China has taken the initiative of creating the university while MSU will provide educational programs and research and development.

TagsAssociation of Universities of the Russian Federation and the People's Republic of China, Moscow State University, Peking University Council, china, Russia, Beijing University of Technology