10 years at the forefront: SPbPU Representative Office in Shanghai celebrates its anniversary
In April 2026, it will be ten years since the Representative Office of Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University (SPbPU) opened in the dynamically developing Pudong district — the business heart of Shanghai. It became the first official representative office of a Russian university in the PRC, and over the past decade has turned into one of the main bridges connecting science, education, and industry of the two great powers.
The beginning of the journey: a strategic decision in the era of globalization
The decision to establish the representative office was made in November 2015, when a delegation from the new Pudong district visited the university at SPbPU’s invitation. On April 21, 2016, the grand opening ceremony took place at the high‑tech platform of the PuE business incubator in the Changjiang International Technopark.
The opening of the office in Shanghai was personally approved by the Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation, Dmitry Medvedev, which underlined the high priority of this project at the state level. An important milestone was also the receipt of a state registration certificate in 2020, making SPbPU the first Russian university whose overseas representative office received official state‑level recognition in China.
Main results: education, science and industry
Over ten years of work, the Representative Office in Shanghai has become a hub for Chinese students, scientists and business partners, operating in three key areas: education, science, and industry.
The Representative Office played a key role in the growing popularity of Russian engineering education in China. While in 2016 the office’s work on student recruitment was just beginning, today the number of Chinese students at SPbPU exceeds 2,000. The university is firmly among the top three Russian universities in terms of the number of international students, of whom more than 5,200 are studying in 2026. The Representative Office facilitates the interaction of the university’s international services with the largest recruiting companies in China.
An important achievement was the creation of joint educational programs. Back in 2016, the Joint Engineering Institute with Jiangsu Normal University (JSNU) was opened. In 2023, taking into account the accumulated experience, a second joint institute was opened — with Xi’an Technological University. Thousands of students are studying engineering programs there, and graduates continue their studies in master’s and doctoral programs at Polytechnic. Today, SPbPU’s network of partners in China includes more than 100 universities and organizations.
The Shanghai Representative Office has become an effective platform for implementing joint scientific projects. Over the years of work, numerous initiatives have been launched, including joint laboratories with Harbin Engineering University (Russian‑Chinese Arctic Laboratory of Information Systems) and the Shanghai Institute of Technical Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Laboratory of Topological Insulators and Quantum Computing).
In November 2023, with the assistance of the Representative Office, SPbPU and the Shanghai Branch of the Chinese Academy of Sciences signed a cooperation agreement. Interaction with the Chinese Academy of Sciences reached a new level: SPbPU researchers gained access to unique infrastructure, in particular, for conducting experiments at the Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility.
In early 2026, agreements were signed with this structure to implement support programs for young specialists and to organize scientific internships for SPbPU specialists at leading Chinese companies. On the basis of JITRI, the International Office of the SPbPU Representative Office in Nanjing was opened and is operating. Cooperation with the National Innovation Center of Excellence (NICE) in Nanjing is actively developing.
In 2023, the rector of SPbPU, Andrei Rudskoi, was awarded the PRC Prize for Outstanding Contribution to International Scientific and Technological Cooperation.
The Representative Office has become a bridge between Russian developments and Chinese industry. SPbPU engineers have worked on projects to optimize automotive components, create new aluminum‑ and copper‑based materials, and introduce advanced technologies into manufacturing.
The activities of the Representative Office extend beyond bilateral relations. It has become an important tool for involving SPbPU in the implementation of the global Silk Road Economic Belt initiative (One Belt, One Road). The university joined the Silk Road University Association and the Scientific Innovation Association, earning seats on the steering committees of these prestigious structures.
A decade is only the beginning of a long journey. Over the past years, the SPbPU Representative Office in Shanghai has proven its effectiveness, becoming not just an administrative office but a full‑fledged scientific, educational and innovation hub. And today, looking back at the path traveled, we can confidently say: thanks to this «bridge,» the future of Russian‑Chinese cooperation in high technology, science and education looks more than promising.