In early January, after joint review by the Chinese and Russian secretariats of the Yangtze-Volga River University Alliance and public announcement on the alliance’s official website, SCMU officially joined the Yangtze-Volga River University Alliance.
The Yangtze-Volga River University Alliance is an important component of the regional cooperation mechanism personally advocated by the leaders of China and Russia. It carries the significant mission of deepening cultural exchanges between the two countries, expanding high-level international cooperation among Chinese and Russian universities, and advancing the Belt and Road Initiative. The alliance is dedicated to creating an important platform and model for promoting educational, scientific, technological, and cultural cooperation between China and Russia. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has approved Sichuan University as the leading Chinese university in the alliance. Since its establishment, the alliance has become an important platform for connectivity and mutual learning between the two countries in higher education, facilitating collaborations among member universities, promoting joint research, and producing substantial results that have advanced the development of higher education in both countries. To date, 50 Russian universities and 38 Chinese universities (including all Ministry of Education-affiliated universities in the middle and upper reaches of the Yangtze River) have joined the alliance.
SCMU is currently at a critical stage in its acceleration toward becoming a “world-class university with world-class disciplines”. Joining the Yangtze-Volga River University Alliance will help expand practical cooperation with other member universities. First, through faculty and student exchanges, shared courses, and joint programs, SCMU can strengthen in-depth collaboration in talent cultivation and cultural exchange, nurturing more interdisciplinary talents with international perspectives and global competencies. Second, through jointly establishing laboratories, applying for international cooperation projects, and co-hosting international academic conferences, SCMU can enhance research cooperation with foreign member universities and jointly advance ethnology and related disciplines toward world-class status.
SCMU has always adhered to the concept of open education and placed high importance on international exchanges and cooperation. The university has established partnerships with 77 universities in 23 countries and regions. On one hand, SCMU actively “goes global” by strengthening international Chinese language education, serving national foreign publicity work, sharing China’s stories, and investing 10 million yuan annually to support undergraduate students’ overseas exchanges and studies. On the other hand, SCMU actively “brings in” by strengthening efforts to attract foreign experts and simultaneously building the “Study at SCMU” brand, continuously expanding exchanges and cooperation with world-class universities and universities in countries along the Belt and Road.
