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‘For us, this is a Challenge’

In early June, as part of the international cooperation development programme, an official delegation from the HSE visited Shanghai. Andrey Klimenko, HSE Vice Rector and head of the delegation, told us about the aims of the trip and agreements reached.

— Andrey, last year a large HSE delegation headed by Rector Yaroslav Kuzminov visited Shanghai. What where the aims of this year's visit?

— The main objective was to achieve real cooperation between the Higher School of Economics and Fudan University, one of the largest in China, in several key areas of study, such as law, economics, state governance and world economy. We met the administration of the appropriate departments in Fudan University and discussed possible methods of interaction. And primarily we were interested in the opportunities for mutual exchange of teachers as well as opportunities for student exchange and joint research.

— How did this go?

- Principal agreements have been reached, and now we need to start implementing them, I mean the creation of specific exchange programmes and topics for lecture courses, These courses, as part of general topics such as macroeconomic theory, should include specific issues related to the socio-economic situation in Russia and China.

— Why did you decide to limit the partnership between the two universities to only four or five areas?

— It's not about limits but the level of readiness and willingness to cooperate. Such willingness was expressed by Alexey Barabashev, Dean of the Faculty of Public Administration, and Evgeniy Salygin, Dean of the Faculty of Law, who participated in the negotiations alongside me. Our economists did not go to Shanghai this time, but asked us to find out in more detail the interests of their Chinese colleagues, and we have done this.

We and our Chinese colleagues proceeded from the following basis:let's establish relations between specific departments on specific topics, and there will always be the possibility later to sign a general agreement between the universities.

— How long will it take to launch this interdepartmental interaction?

— They are already partly established. For example, the Faculty of Public Administration is implementing a summer school programme for our students. Much, of course, will depend on the Deans and staff members of the faculties, who will have to make specific suggestions for their Shanghai colleagues on the topics of the courses and other forms of cooperation, so now the ball is in their court.

— Apart from Fudan University, what other organizations did your delegation manage to talk to?

— We met members of the Consultation Committee under the Shanghai Government, who were going to come to Moscow in late June to study Russian experiences in public administration and to visit the HSE to discuss topics of interest.

I also had the opportunity to speak on the Russian reform of public administration at the all-China seminar, ‘Studying Europe and Asia on an Interdisciplinary Background'. This event was organized by the Institute of International Relations and Regional Development of the East China University ‘Huadong Shifan'- our other partner in Shanghai.

— Andrey, why is the HSE interested in partnership with Chinese universities? Surely, it is more customary to develop academic ties with American and European universities.

— For us this is a kind of a challenge. Large Chinese universities, such as Fudan, are focused on cooperation with the USA and Europe, passing Russia over. They are focused on the highest standards of quality education and research and send their young teachers to receive PhDs from the best universities in the world. That's why if we succeed in developing cooperation with the leading universities in China, it will mean objective recognition of the HSE's compliance with leading world standards. After that we can plan a mutually beneficial student exchange and develop other ways of cooperating with our largest and the most important Eastern neighbour.

— But will Russian students be ready to go for their internship to China instead of, say, England?

— Of course, this is a matter of taste. But, for example, the experience of the Faculty of Public Administration proves that there is demand for China:for the Summer School organized by the Faculty in China, they have to select students through a competition, while when it was launched there were just a few candidates. One more fact should also be considered:economic ties between our countries will almost certainly grow, and there is still a lack of experts on China.

— How visible is the influence of the political system and communist ideology in higher education in China?

— In terms of organization and contents, educational programmes in Chinese universities are created in line with Western standards. At least, the names of the disciplines are quite universal, without any Chinese specifics. Diplomas and academic degrees received in the USA and Europe are considered to be prestigious. Realistically, we need to get better aquainted with the contents of the courses to decide whether they contain communist ideology.

Generally, the Communist Party of China undoubtedly plays a leading role and controls resources as well as the key spheres of the economy. But at the same time, as far as I understand, it does not want to kill the goose that lays the golden egg and does not totally control private business. Such pragmatism, which is historically natural for China, lets them keep a certain balance of interests, socio-political stability and motivation for development. When you travel through Shanghai, you won't see communist slogans in the streets;on the other hand, every public organization, including every university department, has its party committee.

The programme of your visit, as far as I know, included a curious excursion to one of the Shanghai museums...

— Yes, in a Confucian temple we were told about a procedure for enrolment into public service which took place in China for 1300 years, right up to the start of the 20th century. Candidates for an official position passed some quite difficult exams, including not only an essay on a specific topic, but also a test of their weapon skills. To avoid copying and forgery during the written examinations, candidates were isolated for a number of days, then their essays were rewritten by special rewriters and only after that, once the essays were depersonalized, were they checked. Such procedure eliminated the possibility of a preliminary agreement between the candidate and the assessor. Various other methods of cheating were also strictly prohibited:a person caught copying, was punished, maybe even physically.

— What was your impression of Chinese students?

— I paid attention to their focus on their studies:all of them have books and laptops, even in cafés. I did not see anyone idly wandering around the campus. In the evening, all sport facilities are occupied. By the way, the campus of Fudan University itself was very impressive. And as our Chinese colleagues said, living in the campus is affordable almost for every student:lunch there costs a dollar. It means that people from various social strata can study at the university, and for China with its very heterogeneous level of living, this is very important.

Oleg Seregin, HSE News Service