News from the SPbPU Representative Office in Shanghai: digest for August

For the official Representative Office of SPbPU in Shanghai, August turned out to be truly eventful. China is gradually returning to normal life, despite the fact that most events are held online, some of them are gradually moving into a traditional format. Read about the participation of Polytechnic University in the forum on the development of free trade zones, work on the creation of a joint institute with the PRC University and visits of delegations to the office of the Representative in our traditional news digest.

International Forum for the Development of Free Trade Zones

Polytechnic University remotely participated in the International Forum for the Development of Free Trade Zones (“Enlightening the FTZ, connecting the world”), which was held in Shanghai. Sponsored by the Shanghai Science and Technology Association and the Pudong New District Administration, the forum was aimed at helping outstanding foreign projects enter the Chinese market. Also, the Shanghai Science and Technology Association and the Pudong New District Administration have been supporting the Representative Office of SPbPU in Shanghai since the first days of its foundation. On behalf of Polytechnic University, the head of the SPbPU Shanghai office Lu ZHIYUI took part in the forum and presented the scientific reports of Polytechnic University on the topic of digital transformation and intelligent control systems. Participants’ projects attracted high interest from the part of Chinese investors.

Work on the creation of a joint institute is going on

Representative office of SPbPU in Shanghai continues to work on creating a Joint Institute of Polytechnic University and Xi’an University of Technology (STU). Employees of both universities regularly conduct videoconferences and negotiate. At the next online meeting, reports on the results to date were presented; the main documents have already been created and are being prepared for submission to the Ministry of Education of China. The parties have agreed on training programs and other organizational issues.

Recruitment of Chinese applicants for the preparatory courses of Polytechnic University in the PRC

Recruitment of applicants for training courses, which SPbPU opened together with its Chinese partner Qingdao Hengxing University of Science and Technology, is gaining momentum. University preparatory programs have proven to be in great demand among Chinese students. This was reported by representatives of the Share Company, which supported the organization of courses in the PRC. Traditionally, the official Representative Office of SPbPU in Shanghai rendered great assistance in promoting the new program. Three educational exhibitions, which took place in the cities of Jining, Lianyi and Hejie, Shandong province, showed the strong interest of Chinese applicants and their parents who visited the stands of the Polytechnic University.

Expansion of the SPbPU partner network in the PRC

The representative office of SPbPU in Shanghai continues to develop the partner network of Polytechnic University in China. In August, Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University signed a framework agreement on cooperation with the Xi’an University of Translation in order to create joint programs, improve the quality of training, and increase the number of students studying Russian. It is important for future specialists not only to speak Russian, but also to know the technical terminology for studying in engineering lines of study at SPbPU. The key task of this cooperation is to prepare students at the Xi’an University of Translation for admission to Polytechnic University. In the near future, the parties plan to start recruiting students with the support of the Shanxi City and Province Administration.

Employees of the Representative Office held productive negotiations with the Beijing HUATEC Company. One of the areas of work of HUATEC is international education and student recruitment in particular. During the negotiations, the parties agreed to start working on attracting Chinese applicants to the main educational and short-term programs of SPbPU.

The first delegations visit the Representative Office

Gradually, online events are returning to their usual “live” mode. Thus, at the end of August, a delegation from Mudanjiang Pedagogical University, a leading educational institution in the southeast of Heilongjiang province, visited the SPbPU Representative Office in Shanghai. In 2009, the Ministry of Education of the PRC awarded Mudanjiang Pedagogical University the title of “One of the best universities in the PRC in terms of education.” The delegation of the university under the leadership of Vice-Rector Li XIUZHUNG got acquainted with the history of SPbPU and its key achievements, goals and the mission of the Representative Office. At the end of the visit, the Chinese colleagues expressed interest in working together in both educational and scientific and technical fields.

A delegation from the Local Trade and Economic Demonstration Zone of the Shanghai Organization for Cooperation also visited the SPbPU Representative Office in August. The members of the delegation made the SPbPU Representative Office acquainted with the current plan of their development, after which the parties discussed possible areas of cooperation between SPbPU and the enterprises of the Demonstration Zone.

Prepared by the SPbPU International Office