People's Daily:China-Russia cooperative university deepens educational ties

     Shenzhen MSU-BIT University     

Sino-Russian educational cooperation has seen deepened development over recent years, with more exchanges between the two countries’ universities and colleges, Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Sept. 13.

The opening ceremony of Shenzhen MSU-BIT University was held on that day, in Shenzhen, south China’s Guangdong province.

In May 2014, China and Russia signed a memorandum of understanding on establishing the university at a signing ceremony witnessed by Xi and Russian President Putin.

Three months later, China’s Ministry of Education approved the plan to launch Shenzhen MSU-BIT University. In May 2016, officials from China and Russia laid the foundation for the school site. In August 2017, a total of 113 undergraduates from eight provinces and cities across China were enrolled in the university.

Inject new impetus into Shenzhen’s scientific research and education

Shenzhen MSU-BIT University has pushed Shenzhen closer to a highland of scientific research and education. Currently, over 10 higher domestic and cooperative educational institutions have been launched or are about to open in the University Town of Shenzhen, located in the city’s Nanshan District.

The Town, jointly built by the Shenzhen Government and renowned Chinese universities, is devoted to cultivating full-time postgraduates. Seventeen years later, the Town is home to over 10,000 students.

Following this trend, other districts in Shenzhen have also proposed to enhance their higher education by building or working with more universities, according to a government report.

Serve the building of the Belt and Road Initiative

Shenzhen MSU-BIT University, jointly run by Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU), the Beijing Institute of Technology (BIT), and the Shenzhen Government, specializes in cultivating talents for Belt and Road construction.

According to the rankings released by UK higher education research company QS in March, BIT ranks 88th in the world, and 10 of the school’s subjects made the list. MSU, one of the best universities in Russia, has 11 Nobel Prize winners and it is chaired by President Putin.

The city of Shenzhen ranks high on the Chinese mainland in terms of overall economic competitiveness.

The university offers interdisciplinary studies by integrating MSU’s advantages in basic course work and BIT’s strengths in engineering. It is reported that Shenzhen MSU-BIT University will recruit teachers from around the globe.

On the opening day of Guangdong-based universities, Alexey Tarasov, vice president of Shenzhen MSU-BIT University, said the school will foster talents who can master both English and Russian, for both countries, as well as for the building of the Belt and Road Initiative.

With the establishment of Shenzhen MSU-BIT University, there are now nine Sino-foreign cooperative universities on the mainland. Some of the institutions select students according to very strict standards. For instance, Shenzhen MSU-BIT University chooses students not only based on college entrance exam scores but also based on academic performance in senior high school and the overall quality of the student.