Building Bridges: Russian–Chinese Summer School on International Relations Opens
The XII Russian-Chinese Summer School on International Relations has opened at HSE University. This year’s theme is ‘Facets of the World Majority: Practice and Narratives.’ The school has brought together 27 master's and doctoral students as well as early-career researchers from leading universities in China and Russia.
Timofey Bordachev, Academic Supervisor at the HSE Centre for Comprehensive European and International Studies (CCEIS), opened the programme by highlighting that the summer school has been running for 15 years. ‘A unique tradition of our school is that we always begin with a lecture by its founder and the Academic Supervisor of the HSE Faculty of World Economy and International Affairs, Dr Sergey Karaganov,’ he noted.
Sergey Karaganov also welcomed the participants, encouraging them to engage in active communication. ‘Such cooperation offers a chance to build international bridges. Friendships of this kind contribute to stronger inter-state relations,’ he said. In his keynote lecture, Sergey Karaganov gave a historical overview of the development of the current system of Western value dominance and Russia’s position in the modern world. ‘Established capitalist models have exhausted themselves, and consumption-driven growth has led to climate change,’ he remarked. According to him, Russia is ‘concluding its European journey.’ ‘Russia is returning to itself and moving away from Europeanisation. The economic centre of gravity is shifting towards the Urals and Siberia. We are modernising and restructuring our economy,’ he emphasised.
Also on the opening day, July 1, Prof. Feng Shaolei, Director of the Centre for Russian Studies at East China Normal University, delivered a lecture focused on crises and their role in shaping global orders.
‘Large-scale wars are the crises most directly linked to world order. These wars are often intertwined with revolutions and have a profound impact on the world. Since the emergence of the modern international system, new world orders have largely arisen from wars and revolutions,’ Prof. Feng explained. He pointed out that the Thirty Years' War led to the Westphalian system, while the Vienna system emerged following the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars. ‘Unlike wars, which reshape the world order, global economic and financial crises tend to result in the reconstruction of the international economic and financial system,’ he added.
The participants actively engaged with the lecturers, asking questions on topics such as responses to the growing climate threat, interpretations of hegemonic theories, the nature of the current Middle Eastern conflict, and potential areas for deeper Sino–Russian cooperation.
In the coming days, the Summer School will feature lectures by: Anastasia Likhacheva, Dean of the HSE Faculty of World Economy and International Affairs; Ivan Safranchuk, Director of the Centre for Eurasian Studies at the MGIMO Institute for International Studies; Dmitry Suslov, Deputy Director of the HSE Centre for Comprehensive European and International Studies; Da Wei, Director of the Centre for International Security and Strategy (CISS) and Professor at the School of Social Sciences, Tsinghua University; and Fyodor Lukyanov, Research Professor at the HSE Faculty of World Economy and International Affairs.
The summer school ‘Facets of the World Majority: Practice and Narratives’ runs from July 1 to 7. It is organised by the HSE Faculty of World Economy and International Affairs in collaboration with the Centre for Comprehensive European and International Studies (CCEIS) and the HSE School of International Cooperation. Participants from China represent East China Normal University, Peking University, Tsinghua University, Fudan University, Dalian University of Foreign Languages, and Nanjing University. Russian universities represented include HSE, St Petersburg State University, St Petersburg State University of Aerospace Instrumentation, Peter the Great St Petersburg Polytechnic University, Moscow State University, Volgograd State Technical University, Russian State University for Humanities, Volga State University of Technology, Tomsk State University, MGIMO, and others.
See also:
Three Weeks in Shanghai: HSE University–St Petersburg Students Study International Politics at Leading Chinese University
Students of the Bachelor's programme 'Political Science and World Politics' at HSE University–St Petersburg participated in the Summer School at Fudan University in Shanghai. For three weeks, they studied world geopolitics and Chinese diplomatic strategies.
‘Architecture, Nature, Cuisine—Everything in China Is Astonishing’
This year, Elizaveta Zorina is completing her Master’s degree in Artificial Intelligence Hardware and Software at the HSE Tikhonov Moscow Institute of Electronics and Mathematics (HSE MIEM). In autumn 2025, she spent six months in China as part of an academic mobility programme. In this interview, she shares her experience of studying at the School of Information Science and Engineering at Shandong University.
Education in a Changing World: Russian–Chinese Dialogue in Beijing
How are universities, vocational education systems, and researcher training programmes evolving in response to new challenges? These questions were at the heart of the international forum ‘Reconfiguring Education in a Changing World: Russia–China Dialogues on Higher Education, Skills, and Research Training’, held in China in mid-June. The event was jointly organised by the HSE Institute of Education and the Graduate School of Education of Peking University, which hosted the forum on its campus.
Mathematicians from Nizhny Novgorod and Shanghai Study System Stability
Mathematicians at HSE University–Nizhny Novgorod, in collaboration with colleagues from Tongji University in Shanghai, are investigating the fundamental causes of structural stability in systems and the mechanisms underlying its disruption. In this interview with the HSE News Service, Prof. Olga Pochinka, Head of the International Laboratory of Dynamical Systems and Applications at HSE University–Nizhny Novgorod and leader of the project ‘Qualitative Theory of Systems of Ordinary and Partial Differential Equations,’ discusses the project, which is being implemented as part of HSE University's International Academic Cooperation programme.
Scientific, Technological, and Educational Projects: Expanding Cooperation Between HSE University and China
Recently, an HSE delegation led by Rector Nikita Anisimov visited China. During the visit, the parties reached agreements to expand the portfolio of joint educational and research projects with some of the country’s leading universities. This article from the HSE News Service explores the development of HSE University’s cooperation with its Chinese partners.
Discovering Science through Russian Language: HSE Prep Year Students Present at International Conference in Kazan
On May 23, 2026, the V International Scientific and Practical Conference ‘Discovering the World of Science’ took place in Kazan at the Preparatory Faculty for International Students of Kazan Federal University. Four students of the HSE International Preparatory Year took part in the event: two delivered their presentations in person, while two participated online. Their work was supervised by Acting Director of the International Prep Year Irina Isaeva and lecturer Ekaterina Kozhemyakova.
HSE and Peking University Expand Cooperation in Civil Society Research
A seminar involving Russian and Chinese scholars on cooperation between the state and non-profit organisations was held in Beijing. Participants discussed the evolution of institutions, cooperation practices, and challenges facing the development of the non-profit sector, and also presented the results of their research. The meeting concluded with agreements to expand joint projects and academic exchanges.
‘All My Time Is Devoted to My Dissertation’
Ilya Venediktov graduated from the Master’s programme at the HSE Tikhonov Moscow Institute of Electronics and Mathematics through the combined Master’s–PhD track and is currently studying at the HSE Doctoral School of Engineering Sciences. At present, he is undertaking a long-term research internship at the University of Science and Technology of China in Hefei, where he is preparing his dissertation. In this interview, he explains how an internship differs from an academic mobility programme, discusses his research topic, and describes the daily life of a Russian doctoral student in China.
Direct Dialogue with Leading Universities
An HSE delegation has held a series of meetings with leading Chinese universities: Tsinghua University, Peking University, Beihang University, Xi’an Jiaotong–Liverpool University, and Tongji University. The visit programme was organised by the Institute of Education.
China Bets on Expanding Leading Universities, Postgraduate Education, and STEM Fields
At the XXVI April International Academic Conference named after Evgeny Yasin at HSE University, one of the distinguished speakers was Prof. Liguo Li of the School of Education at Tsinghua University. He spoke about changes in the structure of higher education in China in line with national strategic priorities, including a proposed 1.7–2-fold increase in the number of leading research universities.