The 24th meeting of the Russian-Chinese Commission on Humanitarian Cooperation co-chaired by Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Tatyana Golikova and State Councilor of the People's Republic of China Shen Yiqin was held, via video conference, on 13 December.
During the meeting, the parties exchanged views on the current state and prospects for expanding cooperation in all humanitarian areas. A number of coordinated decisions were adopted at the meeting and included in the minutes.
In her welcoming remarks, Tatyana Golikova pointed out that Russian-Chinese relations of comprehensive partnership and strategic interaction have reached a high level and continue to move forward progressively.
“Russian-Chinese relations are built on the principles of equality, mutual respect, and readiness to provide decisive mutual support on matters of basic national interests, including protection of state sovereignty and territorial integrity, and ensuring security and development. The world is changing quickly, but one thing remains unchanged and it’s the friendship between our countries. Special credit for this goes to the heads of state, whose longstanding trust-based contacts and strategic guidance foster bilateral ties and set the long-term benchmarks,” the Deputy Prime Minister said.
According to Tatyana Golikova, the countries continue to cooperate in higher education. Quotas for Chinese students at the Russian universities are regularly allocated. The Russian Government has allocated 1,000 spots for the current academic year and 1,000 spots for the next academic year.
Collaboration between Moscow State University (MSU) and Beijing Polytechnic Institute (BPI) has been a flagship project of inter-university cooperation for several years now. It is an unmatched project of Russia-China humanitarian interaction. Currently, more than 1,800 university students and postgraduate students are studying as part of this project.
Projects for creating Luoyang-Urals University, Sakha-Jilin Technological University, and the Russian-Chinese Mineral Resources University will be implemented as part of Russian-Chinese inter-university cooperation.
The interaction in healthcare is making strides. Shared priorities include fostering medical education, improving readiness for emergencies, cooperation in preventing infectious and non-infectious diseases, and strengthening the sanitary and epidemiological situation in both countries. Additionally, the exchange of experience in preventing and treating infectious diseases remains a priority.
The annual Global Russia-China Symposium on the Prevention of Infectious Diseases (COVID-19, influenza, HIV, tuberculosis, hepatitis C) is a notable example of successful collaboration in this area. In November 2023, an in-person symposium took place in St Petersburg for the first time in a long while.
Simultaneously, Tatyana Golikova highlighted the rapid expansion of cooperation in preventing and treating non-infectious diseases.
Interaction in cancer treatment and nuclear medicine is high on the agenda. At Russia’s initiative, the Russian-Chinese interaction programme has gained a new component – cooperation in using innovative radiopharmaceuticals for diagnosing and treating cancer and non-cancer diseases and implementing innovative nuclear medicine technology.
Training medical personnel is a strategic priority. In 2023, over 1,100 Chinese nationals studied at Russian medical universities.
Traditionally, Russia and China are key partners in tourism. To restore tourist flows with China, a mechanism for visa-free group tourist trips was launched in August. Moreover, since August, Chinese tourists have had the opportunity to obtain an electronic visa for travel in Russia. In four months, almost 70,000 Chinese tourists took advantage of this opportunity. For convenience, the official website run by the Foreign Ministry now has electronic visa processing information available in Chinese.
Furthermore, as the Deputy Prime Minister noted, 2023 marked the resumption of in-person youth exchanges between Russia and China. “We note the support of Russian initiatives by the All-China Youth Federation and the sending of delegations to the International Youth Camp of the BRICS countries, the Eurasia Global International Youth Forum, the 7th Russia-China EXPO, the Creative Cooperation Programme of Russia and China. The World Youth Development Forum which brought together about 2,000 young people from over 130 countries was China's flagship platform this year. Next year, we expect a representative delegation of young leaders from China at the World Youth Festival to be held from 1 to 7 March at the Sirius federal territory. The festival will bring together 20,000 young people from over 180 countries. More than 300,000 applications for participation have already been received,” Tatyana Golikova said.
The following documents were signed at the end of the meeting:
- Minutes of the 23rd meeting of the Subcommittee on Cooperation in Education of the Russian-Chinese Commission on Humanitarian Cooperation.
- Cooperation Programme between the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the People's Republic of China and the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation for 2024-2027.
- Minutes of the 23rd meeting of the Subcommittee on Cooperation in Healthcare of the Russian-Chinese Commission on Humanitarian Cooperation.
- Minutes of the 13th meeting of the Subcommittee on Cooperation in Youth Policy of the Russian-Chinese Commission on Humanitarian Cooperation.
