China’s largest metallurgical and construction corporation visited SPbPU

On September 29, a delegation from one of the largest and oldest state-owned industrial corporations in China — China Metallurgical Group Corporation (MCC Group) — visited Polytechnic University. Its main activities are related to the design, construction and high-tech equipment of metallurgical enterprises, as well as the construction of civil and urban facilities.

The delegation was led by Liu Di, deputy director general of the corporation for Russia and CIS relations. The event was also attended by Wang Yuantao, director of the Russian branch of the company, as well as experts in engineering and finance.

On behalf of the Polytechnic University management, the Chinese colleagues were welcomed by Vladimir Khizhnyak, Head of the International International Relations Office.

Cooperation between Russia and China is becoming increasingly important, so the development of partnership with Chinese industry is a top priority for Polytechnic University, he said.

The meeting was attended by Alexander Chusov, deputy director of the Institute of Civil Engineering, Mikhail Romanov, deputy director of the Institute of Civil Engineering for International Activities, and Sergey Ganin, deputy director of the Institute of Mechanical Engineering, Materials and Transportation and director of the Higher School of Physics and Materials Technologies.

MCC Group has not recently entered the Russian market and therefore is in search of reliable partners for cooperation in the field of personnel training for the metallurgical and construction industry, joint project activities in the construction of industrial and civil buildings and structures, materials research, emphasized Mr. Liu Di.

MCC Group representatives were very interested in the Russian side’s proposals for joint internships for Russian and Chinese students in the company’s projects, educational programs for students and specialists, and exchange of experts. Alexander Chusov told his colleagues about the rich experience of cooperation between ISI and Chinese universities in Beijing, Shenzhen, Chengdu and other Chinese cities. He noted that the prospective cooperation with MCC Group fully corresponds to the Institute’s approach to student training, which is related to the effective combination of theoretical studies and practice in real projects at enterprises.

Sergey Ganin informed the Chinese guests about the possibilities of joint work in the field of metallurgy and materials science.

For many years of cooperation with major metallurgical plants, the staff of the Higher School of Physics and Technologies of Materials has accumulated serious experience in the field of research of material properties throughout the production cycle, he said.

As research areas for cooperation, Sergey Ganin proposed to consider the creation of digital twins of metallurgical processes, as well as the production of metals with high mechanical characteristics.

At the end of the meeting, the Chinese side noted that it was impressed by the scale and competencies of the university. MCC Group and Polytechnic University have great prospects for cooperation in many educational and scientific areas. In order to fix the agreements reached, the parties plan to prepare a memorandum of cooperation and sign it in the near future.