The meeting was held in the Assembly hall of St. Petersburg state University. The meeting was also attended by Director of St. Petersburg state University "Coordination center of scientific, technical and educational programs" Yuri Snisarenko and first Deputy first Vice-rector for educational and methodical work of St. Petersburg state University Alexander Babich.
In his welcoming speech, Evgeny Grigoriev noted that against the background of dynamic development of relations between St. Petersburg and China in the economic, technological, scientific, educational and cultural spheres, interest in studying China among young people and students of St. Petersburg universities is constantly growing.
"I think it is no exaggeration to say that St. Petersburg is not only the cultural capital of Russia, but also a recognized center of Chinese-Russian cooperation. I am sure that the students who are present here today will be able to contribute to the development of Russian-Chinese cooperation in the near future," said the Chairman of the Committee for external relations of St. Petersburg.
E. D. Grigoriev told about the planned activities in the framework of the Chinese New year in St. Petersburg and invited present students to participate in open workshops, educational lectures, going to concerts and dive into the world of "real" Chinese paintings. (The full program of events is available on the official website of the Committee for external relations of St. Petersburg in the section "announcements").
Mr. Zhuang Jianping congratulated the students on the upcoming Tatiana's Day (which is celebrated as the day of Russian students) and wished Russian and Chinese students success in their studies.
Alexander Babich, for his part, spoke about the dynamic development of relations between SPBU and Chinese partner universities. He noted that despite the huge number of students studying Chinese, almost everyone has the opportunity to go to China for an internship: SPBU has an agreement with the Ministry of education of China, partner universities in China, the state office for the dissemination of the Chinese language, etc. In addition, for the second year in a row SPBU holds the all-Russian Olympiad in the Chinese language, which is included in the official list of the Ministry of science and education of the Russian Federation and its winners and prize-winners can rightfully count on benefits for admission to any Russian University.
During the meeting, students of St. Petersburg state University presented to the audience and honored guests theatrical performances in the Chinese style and asked questions about the development of relations between St. Petersburg and the cities and regions of China, plans to expand youth exchanges and scientific and educational cooperation, employment opportunities and internships of graduates who speak Chinese, etc.