St Petersburg University is open for cooperation with the Ministry of Justice of China

Yin Xuemei, Deputy Director General of the International Cooperation Department of the Ministry of Justice of the PRC, said that during her visit to St Petersburg she could not miss the opportunity to come to the University, whose graduates are two Russian presidents. She also wanted to personally get acquainted with University’s administration. Yin Xuemei said that it is important for the Ministry, which has its own educational institution, to establish international relations with major universities in the world. Mrs Yin presented possible areas of cooperation between the educational institutions. One of the areas could be interaction within the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), of which Russia and China are members. For example, one of the participants in the meeting, Mr Jiang Siyuan, is the coordinator of the mechanism for the meeting of Ministers of the SCO member states under the Ministry of Justice of the PRC. This structure is ready to cooperate with the University.

Marina Lavrikova told her Chinese colleagues that the cooperation of St Petersburg University with Chinese universities and the People's Republic of China is large-scale and multifaceted. Partner universities include: Peking University; Harbin Institute of Technology; Shanghai Jiao Tong University; and other major research and educational centres.

Marina Lavrikova also emphasised that St Petersburg University is the only higher education institution in Russia that has a direct agreement with the Ministry of Education of the PRC. The University also actively cooperates with the Governor and the People's Government of Heilongjiang Province. Additionally, the Testing Centre for Russian as a Foreign Language of St Petersburg University has been opened at Heilongjiang University. One of the most important partner universities of St Petersburg University in the PRC is Harbin Institute of Technology. It was there where a representative office of St Petersburg University was opened in 2018. St Petersburg University and Harbin Institute of Technology are currently working on the creation of a joint university. Its construction is scheduled to be completed in 2022.

Marina Lavrikova drew the guests' attention to the fact that more than a dozen unique academic programmes with a Chinese component have been opened at St Petersburg University. So, for example, ‘Jurisprudence (with an In-Depth Study of the Chinese Language and Legal System)’ and other similar programmes in economics, sociology, international relations and other areas of study are very popular among applicants. Additionally, St Petersburg University became the first university in Russia to create a massive open online course in Chinese. Within the framework of humanitarian cooperation with the People's Republic of China, the University publishes an almanac of contemporary Russian prose in Chinese. Thanks to the work of University translators, Chinese lawyers today have the opportunity to read the book ‘Russian Law in Brief: Digest for Foreign Investors’. It is written by Nikolay Kropachev, Rector of St Petersburg University, and Valery Musin, Honoured Scientist of the Russian Federation, an outstanding legal scholar, Professor at St Petersburg University.

These are just some examples of dozens of existing projects. At present, cooperation with China is a priority in the development of international activities at St Petersburg University, so we are always happy to respond to new proposals.

Marina Lavrikova, Senior Vice-Rector for Academic Activities and Teaching Methods of St Petersburg University

During the meeting, Yin Xuemei invited St Petersburg University experts to two events: the forum on legal services and economic cooperation, which will be held in September in Shanghai; and the Global Lawyers Forum, which will be held in December in Guangzhou under the auspices of the Ministry of Justice of the PRC.