‘We shall Definitely Attract other HSE Faculties to the Cooperation’
From May 31st to June 1st a joint Russian-Chinese conference on ‘Transition and Economic Development in China and Russia:Past and Future'took place at the HSE. The event was organized by the Faculty of Economics. On the Chinese side, leading economists from two large universities, Wuhan and Hong Kong, took part in the conference. Vladimir Avtonomov, Dean of the HSE Faculty of Economics, told us about the event and cooperation with the colleagues from China.
—Vladimir, what were the key aims of the conference?
—This is the third conference which we have organized together with Wuhan University. Our collaboration began a year ago with quite a small event - a conference on the history of economic thought in both countries. Then in November 2009 a second conference, this time on the problems of economic development, took place in Wuhan . The number of participants of this Russian-Chinese cooperation is gradually increasing, the range of discussion topics is broadening, and it is becoming increasingly clear how much we share areas of common scientific interest. For example, a report by Tatiana Dolgopyatova, HSE Tenured Professor, on the dynamics and determinants of company property concentration in the 2000s is very close to research work by Professor Julan Du from the Hong Kong University. Both of them are investigating very similar problems, and we can already see some synergy as a result of professional communication. So now we are discussing a joint research project on corporate governance in Russia and China. At the conference we also became familiar with a very interesting report by Professor Sibao Guo, Director of the Wuhan University Institute of Economic Development, on the causes and prospects of the rapid growth of the Chinese economy. These issues are of interest not only for Russian and Chinese economists;over the world experts are attempting to analyze and forecast this situation. Rustem Nureev, HSE Tenured Professor, shared his point of view on the possible problems that may arise from such an intensive growth of the Chinese economy. Generally, reports by our colleagues from China excited lively interest from Russian experts, and vice versa— Chinese researchers showed genuine interest in the results of research carried out by our economists.
— Is there a long-term plan for joint work with Chinese colleagues?
— We have plans to broaden the collaboration. We have already signed an agreement between the HSE and Wuhan University, and I hope that we shall be able to attract other universities to join in the cooperation, Russian as well as Chinese. I believe this is a very important initiative for researchers of both countries as well as for the universities they represent.
— Does the agreement imply a student exchange programmes?
— Not yet. At the moment we are talking about academic cooperation, which is in fact already taking place, but I'm sure at some point there will be a student exchange programme. We shall definitely attract other HSE faculties to join the process of Russian-Chinese cooperation. From our perspective, we are strongly interested in getting the participation of sinologists from the HSE Faculty of World Economy and International Affairs.
— Please tell us more about the key speakers of the conference and the topics of their presentations.
— Ing Ma, Professor of Wuhan University, presented a very detailed report on empirical analysis of the development of education in China, and Tatiana Abanking, HSE Professor, told the audience about the modernization of educational systems in 31 regions of Russia. Such bilateral comparisons of problems in the educational sphere of the two countries led to a fruitful discussion involving many conference participants.
Unlike previous meetings, the latest conference included many reports on macroeconomic topics - on the Chinese as well as on the Russian side, which means the range of our discussions is broadening and deepening.
Mark Levin, HSE Tenured Professor, presented a report on the specifics of corruption in Russia. The report from the Chinese side, while not directly connected with this theme, was about the government role in the implementation of reforms in China. This topical problem is widely discussed throughout Chinese society and often involves the phenomena of corruption in the country.
This was the first time when the standards of financial accounting in the two countries was discussed. Overall, I would like to stress the increase in the range of topics under discussion, which will inevitably be even further widened in the future.
Valentina Gruzintseva, HSE News Service
Photos by Nikita Benzoruk