13.05.2026
On May 12, as part of the cross Years of Education between Russia and China, a meeting between the leadership of RSUH and a delegation from Beijing Foreign Studies University (BFSU), headed by Rector Jia Wenjian, took place at the Russian State University for the Humanities.
"The visit of Beijing Foreign Studies University is of particular significance to us, since your university is a major humanities center, close to RSUH in its profile and academic directions," noted Vera Zabotkina, Acting Vice-Rector for International Cooperation at RSUH, in her welcoming address. It is symbolic that the Chinese delegation's visit is taking place on the eve of the official opening of the cross Russian-Chinese Year of Education.
Also taking part in the meeting on the RSUH side were: Nikita Filin, Dean of the Faculty of Oriental and African Studies at the Institute of Eastern and Western History and Philology; Filipp Taratorkin, Dean of the Historical and Archives Institute; and Olga Trofimova, Director of the Department of International Cooperation. During the negotiations, the parties discussed promising areas of Russian-Chinese academic cooperation, including the development of student and teaching mobility programs, the implementation of joint educational programs, as well as conducting research in the fields of international relations, regional studies, history, cultural studies, and linguistics.
At RSUH, 540 students study Chinese across ten different academic programs. Chinese language instruction has been offered since 1992 and has been steadily developing. A significant role in this has been played by the Confucius Institute, headed by the country's leading sinologist, Taras Viktorovich Ivchenko, who defended his PhD dissertation at Peking University in Chinese. The university organizes Chinese language Olympiads for the Moscow qualifying round and all-Russian competitions, in particular the "Chinese Bridge" competition — all of which take place at the Chinese Cultural Center with the active participation of RSUH. The RSUH Confucius Institute — one of the first established in our country — was named the best Confucius Institute of the year several years ago.
Rector of Beijing Foreign Studies University Jia Wenjian emphasized the importance of institutional interaction between the universities and noted the need to establish sustainable mechanisms for academic cooperation: "We can create a mobility platform for bachelors, master's students, postgraduates, and young teachers, develop semester exchanges, short-term internships, and mutual recognition of educational outcomes. We can also focus on joint research in the fields of international relations, history, cultural studies, and linguistics, form inter-university research teams, and jointly apply for research projects."
During the meeting, representatives of BFSU also spoke about the university's key areas of activity. Today, Beijing Foreign Studies University is one of China's leading humanities universities, offering educational programs in 101 foreign languages and actively developing research in international relations, political science, economics, and intercultural communication.
Representatives of RSUH, in turn, presented the university's structure, international research centers, and key areas of international cooperation. Special attention was paid to the activities of the Institute of Eurasian and Eastern Studies, as well as the development of RSUH's partnerships with universities in Asia, Africa, and Latin America.
The key event of the meeting was the ceremony of signing the Cooperation Agreement between RSUH and Beijing Foreign Studies University. The document is aimed at developing long-term partnership in the educational and scientific spheres, implementing joint projects, academic mobility of students and teachers, as well as strengthening humanitarian ties between Russia and China. The event was organized with the support of Rossotrudnichestvo.
