October 27th, as an important part of China-Russia “Yangtze River-Volga River” cooperation mechanism,Sino-Russian "Yangtze River-Volga" University Alliance was officially launched inChengdu, immediately followed by the first-ever major event of theAlliance– Think Tank Forum of Sino-Russian "Yangtze River-Volga" University Alliance. Sergei Dmitriyev, President of Nizhny Novgorod State Technical University, serves as the chairman of Russian parties in theAlliance, and Xie Heping, President of Sichuan University, as the chairman of Chinese parties in theAlliance.
Over 150 persons, including presidents of 36 Russian institutions and 29 Chinese universities, which are alliance members, and renowned experts and scholars in international studies and some other fields ofChinaandRussia, attended the launching conference, witnessing the official kick-off of theAlliance. The conference was chaired by Yan Shijing, secretary-general of the University Alliance and Vice-President ofSichuanUniversity.
President Xie Heping of SCU made a speech at the ceremony. He pointed out that this university alliance will undertake the responsibility and mission of promoting cultural exchanges, and high-end inter-institution cooperation between the two nations, and supporting the construction of the “Belt and Road”; it will strive to build a key platform and yardstick in facilitating in-depth exchange and cooperation in the areas of education, science and technology, and culture between China and Russia. As the chairman of Chinese Parties in the Alliance, he expects the Alliance to realize five visions: to become an eye-catching brand for strengthening China-Russia higher education cooperation and cultural exchanges; to become a high-end think tank for promoting the “Belt and Road” construction and Sino-Russian "Yangtze River-Volga" cooperation; to become a powerful support for fueling both states’ universities’ efforts to build world-class universities; to become a platform that is open to the world and can converge superior innovative resources, and accelerate both nations’ innovation and creation; and to become a talent highland for cultivating future leaders of China and Russia.SichuanUniversityhopes to take this opportunity to join hands with otherAlliancemembers to share responsibilities and resources, and contribute more wisdom and power to facilitating Sino-Russian "Yangtze River-Volga" cooperation and the construction of “Belt and Road”, and to both nations’ prosperity and development.
Sergei Dmitriyev, Chairman of Russian parties in the Alliance and President of Nizhny Novgorod State Technical University, indicated in his speech that, more than 60 universities of China and Russia will make concerted efforts, make common progress, actively participate in the construction of the Alliance, and so that the development of the two basins will be bonded closely. Member universities should feel glorious to shoulder the task of promoting the two countries’ economic and political development, and immerge themselves into the historical flood to achieve more plentiful cooperation fruits, he added.
Six experts from China and Russia delivered keynote speeches under such topics as "Construction of ‘Belt and Road’ andRegional Development of China and Russia", "Docking Mechanism for Cooperation between "Belt and Road" and "Yangtze River – Volga", "Prospects and Challenges of Sino-Russian ‘Yangtze River–Volga’ Cooperation, "Economic and Trade Cooperation as well as Educational and Cultural Cooperation under the Framework of ‘Yangtze River–Volga’ cooperation". They rendered good suggestions to the construction of China-Russia “YangtzeRiver-VolgaRiver” cooperation mechanism, as well as educational cooperation, cultural exchange, and economic win-win development of the two states.
On the afternoon, two sub-forums under the “Alliance” Think Tank Forum, namely Presidents Forum and Scholars Forum, were held concurrently.
At the closing ceremony, member universities jointly released the 2017 "Yangtze River-Volga" University Alliance Chengdu Initiative. The initiative calls for joint efforts by members of theAllianceto contribute wisdom and power to building a continually peaceful, mutually prosperous, open and inclusive world.
The cooperation and exchange betweenSichuanUniversityand Russian institutions enjoys a long history. In 2012, Ms. Matvienko, President of Russian Federal Committee, said during her visit toSichuanUniversitythat, “Russian institutions should have direct connection with Chinese universities likeSichuanUniversity, which will be favorable to China-Russian cultural and educational exchange”. In recent years, Sichuan University has made tireless efforts to promote cultural and educational cooperation of China and Russia, by building cooperative relationship with Lomonosov Moscow State University, St Petersburg University,Nizhny Novgorod State Technical University, and some other celebrated Russian institutions, co-building a batch of international high-end think tank platforms such as the Center Modern Russia Studies, Sino-Russian Cultural Research Center. Relying on these platforms, the University has carried out a series of forward-looking and strategic researches on the two nations’ ties in politics, economy, culture, and diplomatic relations. Chinese Spirit Culture Grand Dictionary, a major Sino-Russian cultural cooperation project underway, under which SCU andRussianAcademyof Sciences take the lead in writing the dictionary, has been highly praised by President Xi Jinping. This project proves to some extent SCU’s contribution to cultural exchanges and educational cooperation between the two countries.
