July 5th

July 5th was the first working day of the IX Russian-Chinese Summer School on International Affairs.

We started with the opening ceremony accompanied by the addresses of our honoured speakers: Timofey Bordachev, the Academic Advisor of the School and the Academic Supervisor of the Centre for Comprehensive European and International Studies (CCEIS) at HSE; Feng Shaolei, Dean of School of Advanced International and Area Studies at East China Normal University; Ivan Prostakov, Vice Rector of HSE and Alexey Maslov, the Head of School of Asian Studies at the HSE.

We were grateful to have the HSE staff who made the School possible, also with us at the opening ceremony: Marina Batalina, the Head of International Cooperation Office, and Vera Vishnyakova, the Head of School of International Regional Studies.

We were also honoured to have a representative from one of our main supporters, The Alexander Gorchakov Public Diplomacy Fund, speak at the ceremony. Roman Grishenin, a Deputy Executive Director of The Fund, has expressed his view of the future cooperation between our countries. Speakers put emphasis on the significance of deepening cooperation between Russia and China on the basis of common vision and cultural and historical ties.

We also thank Mr. Hu Hao, Counselor at the Chinese Embassy in Moscow, and Mr. Wang Yue, Attache at the Chinese Embassy in Moscow, for taking the time to visit the ceremony.

After the School officially opened, our students had a lecture from prof. Feng Shaolei named “70-Year Sino-Russian Relationship under Multiple Perspectives”. Prof. Feng covered the issues of the nature of bilateral relations, its major drivers, and historical similarities and differences between Russia and China.

The day ended with a discussion with Victor Sumsky, Director of the ASEAN Centre of MGIMO University. Participants discuss whether Russian-Chinese cooperation is inevitable and what forms it may take in the future.