HSE University and Top Chinese Universities: Partnership Based on Mutual Respect and Trust
In mid-April 2024 representatives of several leading universities in China visited HSE University in Moscow. A delegation from Dalian University of Foreign Languages (DUFL), led by Rector Liu Hong, came to sign a cooperation and exchange agreement, while representatives of Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University (XJTLU), led by Board Member and Vice President Chao Qiuling, discussed expanding potential areas of interaction within the existing cooperation and exchange agreement.
During the meetings, Victoria Panova, HSE Vice Rector and Head of the BRICS Expert Council–Russia, presented HSE University as a global multidisciplinary research university and one of the leading expert centres for the Russian government. She emphasised that over 5400 foreign students from nearly 140 countries, including over 300 students from China, are studying at HSE campuses located in four Russian cities. She also highlighted the research projects implemented in partnership with Chinese scholars.
Victoria Panova
‘HSE considers the People’s Republic of China to be one of the high-priority countries for developing long-term scientific and educational cooperation. Currently, most of our partners from the Asia-Pacific region are Chinese organisations. I would like to make a special mention that representatives of HSE University are participating in working groups of the ninth meeting of the Russian-Chinese working group on developing plans and defining priority areas for cooperation in education under the Subcommittee on Cooperation in Education of the Russian-Chinese Commission on Humanitarian Cooperation,’ said Victoria Panova.
Representatives of Dalian University of Foreign Languages (DUFL) identified several key areas for further cooperation, including the study and teaching of Chinese and Russian languages, as well as regional studies, international relations, foreign policy, and student exchange.
Dalian University of Foreign Languages was founded in September 1964. It is one of China's largest linguistic universities, unique in its profile, integrating foreign language teaching into the educational process in humanities, technical, and social sciences programmes. The university ranks 9th among linguistic universities in China in the Shanghai Ranking.
‘At Chinese universities, there is a great demand for the Russian language: there is an active trend in teaching and researching the Russian language. Moreover, the university ranks first in teaching Chinese as a foreign language in Northeast China,’ said Ms Liu Hong. The Rector also noted the increasing interest in regional studies in Russian, which provides potential for joint organisation of lectures, conferences, and other events in this field.
Anastasia Likhacheva, Dean of the HSE Faculty of World Economy and International Affairs, emphasised that HSE University, and her faculty in particular, seeks further development and strengthening of cooperation with Chinese colleagues, aiming for a fuller utilisation of joint potential within scientific and educational interaction, academic mobility, organisation of winter and summer language schools and intensive courses, guest lectures, and master classes, as well as the training of highly qualified personnel and exchange of experience.
Andrey Iserov, Deputy Dean for International Affairs of the HSE Faculty of Humanities, highlighted the importance of strengthening ties with Asian countries and expressed the desire to revive the organisation of winter and summer schools for Russian as a foreign language.
During the meeting, the parties signed a cooperation and exchange agreement.
At the talks with the delegation from Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University (XJTLU), Victoria Panova shared that in March 2024 HSE University established the first in Russia Dissertation Council for Asian and African Studies. ‘HSE University considers this decision as one of the important steps in strengthening ties with Asian countries. Soon, our university will open a graduate school for Asian and African Studies,’ the Vice Rector said.
Deputy Director of the HSE International College of Economics and Finance, Oleg Zamkov, talked about the successful experience of creating a double degree bachelor's programme in economics and finance jointly with colleagues from the Southwestern University of Finance and Economics (SWUFE). He proposed the possibility of creating a similar joint educational programme with universities in one of their priority directions.
Deputy Dean for Research and International Relations of the HSE Faculty of Computer Science, Alexey Mitsyuk, supported the idea of joint summer and winter schools but emphasised the importance of internships as well as joint research projects for students of the faculty.
Representatives of the international cooperation unit—Kirill Kisel, Director of Internationalisation, and Ksenia Shevtsova, Head of the International Partnerships Office—agreed with their Chinese colleagues to work more closely.
Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University (XJTLU) was established in 2006 and is an international joint university founded by two educational institutions: Xi'an Jiaotong University (China) and the University of Liverpool (United Kingdom). In the THE World University Rankings 2024, it is ranked in the 601–800 group, and in THE Asia University Rankings 2023, it ranks 186th. The university has about 25,000 students, and all programmes are taught in English. HSE University has a framework agreement on cooperation and student exchange with XJTLU.
During the visit of delegations from China, the HSE Vice Rector drew attention to research projects implemented in partnership with Chinese scholars. In 2023–2024, 34 research projects were completed or are in the implementation stage, and in 2024–2026, as a result of an internal competition at HSE University for joint fundamental scientific projects ‘International Academic Cooperation,’ seven initiatives were supported, three of which are planned jointly with scientific teams from China.
Victoria Panova highlighted the strong partnership between Russia and China, based on mutual respect and trust, and expressed hope for closer cooperation on priority areas for both countries.
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