The expanding educational cooperation between China and Russia is delivering tangible results, with a record number of students crossing borders, new joint institutions thriving and collaborative research reaching new heights, which in turn is contributing to stronger mutual understanding and the building of a shared future, experts said.
As the China-Russia Years of Education unfold and bilateral student exchanges exceed 80,000, both countries are set to strengthen their educational partnership, transforming people-to-people exchanges into a foundation of enduring friendship, they added.
At the Harbin Institute of Technology, or HIT, in Heilongjiang province, which is a pioneer in China-Russia higher education cooperation, the number of Russian students reached a record high of 2,081 in 2025.
The university has established partnerships with 44 Russian institutions, including Lomonosov Moscow State University and Bauman Moscow State Technical University, and has signed 116 cooperation agreements to date. Over the past decade, HIT has admitted more than 9,000 Russian students, ranking it first among Chinese universities in terms of Russian student enrollment, according to the university.
"The university is committed to further deepening cooperation with Russia in the fields of education, science and technology, and talent cultivation, and to becoming a pioneer in China's new frontier of opening up to the north," said Chen Jie, Party secretary of HIT.
In 2011, HIT and Bauman Moscow State Technical University jointly initiated the establishment of the Association of Sino-Russian Technical Universities, the first such association between the two countries.
The association now comprises 80 member institutions and more than 2.2 million enrolled students. It has hosted nearly 100 major events focused on technology, innovation and youth exchanges, benefiting more than 100,000 students and faculty members from both countries, Chen said.
Shenzhen MSU-BIT University — the first Sino-Russian cooperative university jointly set up by the government of Shenzhen in Guangdong province, the Beijing Institute of Technology and Lomonosov Moscow State University — has seen remarkable growth since its official establishment in October 2016.
Li Hezhang, president of Shenzhen MSU-BIT University, said that enrollment went up from 899 to 4,458 during the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) period, marking a nearly fivefold increase. "The university is committed to cultivating high-quality, innovative talent proficient in three languages, familiar with both China and Russia, and strong in professional expertise," he said.
The institution has established five Sino-Russian joint research centers and two key laboratories under China's national key research and development program, Li said, noting that its faculty includes 20 academicians from China and abroad, and its students have won more than 500 awards in high-level academic competitions over the past five years.
He added that the university has sent about 1,200 students to Lomonosov Moscow State University for exchange programs, 167 of whom have received government scholarships.
Li Yuyao, 22, an economics major at Shenzhen MSU-BIT University, spent a semester at Lomonosov Moscow State University in 2025, thanks to a government-funded scholarship program. "The immersive environment with Russian professors and classmates helped me progress quickly," she said.
During her stay in Russia, she traveled to Moscow, St. Petersburg and Lake Baikal. "Most Russian people we met were very friendly. Some even asked to take photos with us on Red Square," she recalled.
Fluent in Chinese, English and Russian, Li Yuyao said she hopes to pursue a career in multinational trade.
For Viktoriia Dragun, a second-year chemistry student from Russia at Shenzhen MSU-BIT University, coming to China was a life-changing decision.
"I started learning Chinese at age 12 because I love the language — it sounds beautiful and mysterious," she said. "Chinese people are very warm and inclusive. They understand I'm a foreigner, so they're patient when my expression isn't perfect."
Dragun plans to apply for postgraduate studies at Tsinghua University. "As I have come to China, I want to experience studying at the best university here," she added.
Liu Limin, president of the China Education Association for International Exchange, who studied in Russia as a government-sponsored doctoral student in the 1980s, said that his more than 40 years of study and work have been closely related to China-Russia educational exchanges, and that he has dedicated his career to fostering bilateral educational ties.
"An educational exchange is the most lasting, the warmest and the most powerful form of people-to-people bond," he said. "The launch of the China-Russia Years of Education comes at a historic moment and provides a new window for the all-around upgrading of cooperation."
Liu said that his association has helped build a comprehensive cooperation network between the two countries, covering higher education, vocational training, basic education and youth exchanges.
Key achievements include the Luban Workshop, which aligns China's vocational education standards and training system with Russia's industrial demands; the "thousand schools hand in hand" initiative, which is planned to pair more than 1,000 primary and secondary schools over five years; and the China-Russia children's creative festival, which has received about 55,000 student submissions.
Looking ahead, Liu emphasized the need to transform short-term activities into long-term mechanisms. "True cooperation is not a passing trend, but a steady, lasting flow," he said.
Liu also called for aligning Russia's strengths in mathematics, physics, astronautics and art with China's advantages in artificial intelligence and digital education. "We must cultivate young talent to become ambassadors of China-Russia friendship for generations to come," he said.
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