From September 3 to 7, Zheng Xinye, vice-president of Renmin University of China (RUC), led a delegation to Russia to deepen educational and cultural cooperation. Zheng attended the 15th plenary session of the China-Russia Friendship Committee for Peace and Development in Vladivostok. During the visit, he met with Sergey Shakhray, chairman of the Russian Education Council of the committee, visited Far Eastern Federal University (FEFU), and attended the 10th Eastern Economic Forum.

The 15th plenary session of the China-Russia Friendship Committee for Peace and Development is held in Vladivostok on September 6. [Photo/ruc.edu.cn]

During the plenary session, Zheng, chair of the Chinese Education Council of the committee, delivered a keynote speech highlighting future cooperation priorities. He emphasized the importance of fostering youth exchanges and language learning to cultivate young envoys of friendship, advancing joint research on global challenges such as the Arctic and the Far East regions, sustainable development goals, and energy security, and strengthening cultural dialogue to reinforce people-to-people exchanges between the two nations.

Zheng Xinye and Sergey Shakhray meet before the 15th plenary session of the China-Russia Friendship Committee for Peace and Development. [Photo/ruc.edu.cn]

Before the session, Zheng met with Sergey Shakhray to review past collaborations and proposed three initiatives: promoting youth exchanges, advancing high-level joint research, and creating cultural exchange programs. They discussed future plans in detail and reached a preliminary consensus on strengthening talent training cooperation and establishing an innovative mechanism for China-Russia cooperation in humanities, education, and science. 

Zheng Xinye, vice-president of Renmin University of China, leads a delegation to visit Far Eastern Federal University. [Photo/ruc.edu.cn]

During the visit, the delegation also visited Far Eastern Federal University (FEFU), where Zheng met with Evgeny Vlasov, vice-president of FEFU. Zheng proposed continuing joint research in Oriental Studies and Sinology, launching dedicated projects on the Russian Far East, and exploring new areas such as energy and border governance. Vlasov introduced FEFU’s cooperation strategy with China and outlined initiatives such as developing online Sinology courses and enhancing regional development cooperation. The two universities engaged in in-depth discussions and reached broad consensus on expanding future collaboration.

In addition, Zheng attended the 10th Eastern Economic Forum and the 14th APEC Conference on Higher Education Cooperation, engaging in a wide range of discussions on topics such as building an educational ecosystem in the era of artificial intelligence, addressing challenges triggered by scientific and technological developments, and the global significance of China-Russia energy cooperation, among others.