The semi-final of the first China-Russia Youth Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Creativity Competition is over
The China-Russia joint event is being held under the auspices of St Petersburg University, Tsinghua University, Zhongguancun Development Group, and Moscow Innovation Cluster.
There have been summed up the results of the semi-finals of two major contests. Among them are ‘IT hard technology (hardware-based)’ and ‘New energy and materials’. Earlycareer researchers came up with innovation projects and defended them in front of the highcalibre jury.
In the welcoming speech, Sergey Andryushin, Deputy Rector for International Affairs at St Petersburg University, said that they had discussed and approved the idea of organising the competition during the visit of Xi Jinping to St Petersburg University.
Such fields as IT hard technology (hardware-based) and new energy and materials are strategic areas for St Petersburg University, said Sergey Andryushin. Research teams and centres at the University are engaged in research and development in these fields. Some of the projects are commissioned by partners in industry.
The first China-Russia Youth Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Creativity Competition is one of the most important events within the framework of the China-Russia Scientific and Technological Innovation Year. Additionally, the road map on cooperation up to 2025 has been signed. There is a special emphasis on: developing a long-term mechanism to exchange technologies; ensuring cooperation between innovation companies of Russia and China; and developing joint venture funds. By holding the competition and developing state-of-the-art projects and platforms for mutual transferring of innovations, the organisers are making an important step forward in this direction, said Aleksandr Ermalaev, Advisor on Science and Technologies of the Consulate of the Russian Federation in China.
Today, applied developments are becoming more and more internationalised, said Sergey Andryushin. This enables St Petersburg University to achieve high results through cooperating with large corporations. In 2020, the University and Tsinghua University opened a research institute in China. Additionally, St Petersburg University opened Huawei Laboratory and other laboratories of other China’s leading companies. St Petersburg University is the first university in Russia to sign an agreement on collaboration with the Chinese innovation educational platform XuetangX. This has provided an access to one of the largest global markets of online courses.
This creates a solid and proper foundation for China-Russia cooperation in research and development. Obviously, this stage of the competition enables Russian and Chinese young entrepreneurs and students to fulfil the potential of their projects and talents.
Sergey Andryushin, Deputy Rector for International Affairs at St Petersburg University
This year marks the 20th anniversary of signing the treaty of friendship, neighbourliness and co-operation between Russia and China. The countries have long been engaged in research, technical, and innovation cooperation. China-Russia cooperation is an important constituent of strategic partnership between the two countries. It brings together research and industrial associations, field-specific institutes, universities, state corporations, and business.