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.
The two universities have been partners for more than a decade, united by a long-standing record of cooperation.
The timing of the forum was symbolic in several respects. The meeting took place on Russia Day and continued the momentum of the Cross Years of Russia–China Cooperation in Education (2026–2027), a major bilateral initiative officially launched by the leaders of the two countries in Beijing in May. The forum translated high-level declarations into practical academic cooperation: researchers from leading universities in both countries, including colleagues from Tsinghua University, Peking University, Beijing Institute of Technology, and HSE University, came together to discuss challenges shared by both education systems.
Maksim Nikitin
‘It seems deeply symbolic to me that we opened this forum on Russia Day—and did so in Beijing, among our friends and partners,’ said Maksim Nikitin, Head of the International Cooperation Unit at the HSE Institute of Education. ‘Only a few weeks ago, the Cross Years of Education between our countries was launched at the highest level. Our task now is to fill this framework with meaningful content. The forum grew from a simple idea: to transform the long-standing friendship between our two faculties into sustained research collaboration through joint projects, publications, and exchanges of doctoral students and ideas.’
Technological shifts, demographic pressures, and changing government policy priorities are reshaping education systems in both Russia and China. For this reason, the forum was designed not as an occasion to summarise achievements, but as a platform for comparative reflection: identifying common challenges, exploring differences in experience, and examining areas where each country can learn from the other. The programme was organised around three themes reflecting key transformations in contemporary education.
Universities and Socio-Economic Development
The first session, moderated by Ksenia Vilkova of the Centre of the Sociology of Higher Education, focused on the role of universities in a changing world. Participants discussed how higher education balances the need to prepare graduates for the labour market with its broader social and academic mission, and how educational reforms are integrated into national development strategies.
Between Vocational and Higher Education
The second session, organised by Vera Maltseva and Maksim Nikitin from the Centre for Vocational Education and Skills Development, examined the increasingly blurred boundary between vocational and higher education. Discussions centred on the emergence of more flexible educational pathways, new forms of engagement with the labour market, and hybrid models of training, as well as the implications of these developments for the education system as a whole.
‘Discussion during this session was based on our recent research on the professionalisation of higher education,’ noted Vera Maltseva, Director of the Centre for Vocational Education and Skills Development. ‘We have been working closely on these issues with our colleague from Peking University, Professor Po Yang, and we see an instructive contrast: while in Russia we are witnessing the professionalisation of higher education itself, our colleague demonstrates how a distinct sector of higher vocational education is emerging in China. Comparing these two trajectories helps us understand which aspects of these processes are universal and which are shaped by national contexts.’
Researcher Training
The final session focused on doctoral education and featured presentations by Svetlana Zhuchkova, Danila Pavliuk, Elena Tarasova, and Evgeniy Terentev from the Centre of the Sociology of Higher Education. The discussion explored how approaches to researcher training, the development of research competencies, and the reproduction of academic communities are evolving across different countries. It drew on findings from the HSE University international academic cooperation project ‘The Transformation of Doctoral Education in China and Russia.’
The forum served not only as a platform for exchanging ideas and experiences but also as an important step towards strengthening Russian–Chinese cooperation in education. Next year, the partners plan to relaunch the Summer School on Higher Education at the Institute of Education, which for many years was held in St Petersburg.
‘This forum is about trust built over many years,’ emphasised Evgeniy Terentev, Director of the HSE Institute of Education. ‘The greatest value of meetings such as these lies in their ability to create lasting, personal connections between researchers. We were genuinely interested to see how education systems develop in different national contexts. Beneath the apparent differences, there is a great deal in common, and it is precisely through comparison that we gain a better understanding of our own trajectory. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the Graduate School of Education at Peking University for its support and consistently warm hospitality. We hold the research of our colleagues in the highest regard and firmly believe that the partnership between HSE University and Peking University has a promising future. There is still much important work ahead of us together.’
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