June 16th, State Councilor Yang Jiechi co-chaired the second meeting of the Council for Cooperation between the Upper and Middle Reaches of the Yangtze River in China and Federal Districts along the Volga River in Russia with Babich, representative of Russian President. Relevant representative from ministry of foreign affairs, ministry of culture, tourism bureau and other relevant departments of the two countries, five provinces and one municipality of the middle and upper reaches of the Yangtze River, and fourteen federal districts along the Volga River attended the meeting. Xie Heping, President of Sichuan University also attended the meeting on invitation.
At the meeting, Yang Jiechi and Babich jointly inaugurated the website of “Yangtze-Volga” Cooperation Council, signed theMeeting Minutesand theProtocol on Amendment of Yangtze-Volga Cooperation Council Regulations, and witnessed the conclusion of a number of cooperation documents by local governments from the two sides. After the meeting, they both attended the closing ceremony of the 4th Youth Forum.
It is learnt that the official website of “Yangtze-Volga” Cooperation Council was designed and prepared by Sichuan University as entrusted by the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and its daily operation and management is also undertaken by Sichuan University under the guidance of the Ministry of Affairs; the launching ceremony elaborately designed by Sichuan University was highly appraised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and relevant departments. Sichuan University and Nizhny Novgorod State Technical University, as the University League’s leading university in China and Russia respectively, signed a cooperation agreement, which was one of the eleven agreements signed during the meeting, marking the formal establishment of the University League of Two River Drainage Basins as one of the key achievements of the meeting. After the establishment of the league, Sichuan University will maximize the role of a leading university in the league, further cooperation in education, gear up exchanges between various institutions and specialties, between faculties and students of both sides, foster a group of Russian speaking talents familiar with different fields as backup strength for pragmatic Sino-Russian cooperation including regional cooperation.
In the afternoon, President Xie Heping attended the closing ceremony of the fourth “Two River Drainage Basin” Youth Forum, and cordially talked with student representatives of the universities in Sichuan. The students happily shared what they saw and heard in the last 12 days, and said they benefited a lot from the forum. Xie Heping encouraged the representatives to take this forum as a starting point, and strive to contribute to promotion of future regional cooperation between the two areas and implementation of the “Belt and Road” initiative.
Vice President Yan Shi Jing also attended the signing ceremony and the closing ceremony of the fourth “Two River Drainage Basins” Youth Forum.
