Ji Jinbiao, deputy secretary of the CPC Beijing International Studies University (BISU) Committee and president of the university, and Zheng Chengjun, a member of the Standing Committee of the CPC BISU Committee and vice-president of the university, met with a delegation led by Igor Maksimtsev, rector of Saint Petersburg State University of Economics (UNECON), on Nov 7. 

Ji Jinbiao holds talks with Igor Anatolyevich Maximtsev.

Ji welcomed the visiting delegation and spoke of BISU's cultivation of young professionals, the discipline construction and its internationalization. He underscored that over the 60 years since the founding of the university, it has leveraged its advantages in foreign language disciplines and tourism studies and nurtured a group of international talents in foreign affairs, diplomacy, culture and tourism.

Ji said that the university attaches great importance to exchanges with Russia and noted that the establishment of cooperation with UNECON and the joint establishment of the Sino-Russian Tourism University Alliance mark a milestone in Sino-Russian cooperation. He said he expected that regular exchanges would be facilitated through practices such as periodic meetings and normalized exchanges.

Maksimtsev congratulated BISU on its 60th anniversary, recognizing its development achievements and international influence. He thanked BISU for its significant contributions to the Sino-Russian Tourism University Alliance.  

He said that the alliance, gathering 20 higher education institutions from the two countries for development plans, will deepen cooperation in the field of tourism in both China and Russia. He said he was delighted to see many students at both universities learning each other's languages, adding that he hoped that these students would continue to learn from each other to enhance their understanding of the two countries' languages and cultures.

The members of the delegation and representatives of BISU pose for a group photo.

A founding ceremony for the Sino-Russian Tourism University Alliance and the first Sino-Russian Universities Tourism Forum were held at BISU on the same day.

The ceremony and the forum were hosted by the Department of International Cooperation and Exchanges of the Ministry of Education of China and the Federal Agency for the Commonwealth of Independent States Affairs, Compatriots Living Abroad, and International Humanitarian Cooperation of the Russian Federation, and co-organized by BISU and UNECON.