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Russian Universities Expect More Chinese Students
Dr. Victor Sadovnichy, rector of Lomonosov Moscow State University, told Xinhua that he expects more Chinese students to study in Russia.
Russia's biggest institute of higher learning is currently the host to some 640 Chinese students. A 25-member university delegation headed by the rector is now in Beijing displaying its academic achievements to Chinese students.
Russian Minister of Education Vladimir Filippov said during his visit to China in May that closer cooperation in education between Russia and China will benefit both countries.
"We welcome our eastern neighbors to study in our universities and we are able to host 50,000 international students," said the minister.
It has been long that Russian universities are open to Chinese. Quite a few Chinese, including Deng Xiaoping, studied in the former Soviet Union. After the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, a batch of "honorable and lucky" students were sent by the Chinese government to the then Soviet Union for further studies.
However, more and more Chinese schools have chosen English as the first foreign language since China adopted the policy of opening to the outside world and reform two decades ago. Most Chinese students pursuing studies abroad at their own expenses now choose to go to the United States and Europe.
Despite this, Dr. Sadovnichy remains optimistic. He said Russian universities are still appealing to Chinese students. " There were only 500 Chinese in our university in 1950s, but the current number is higher."
He explained that it costs a student more than US$20,000 to study in the United States or Europe, but in Russia, the cost is only 2,000 to US$3,000 even at an elite university.
In order to attract more Chinese students, Moscow State University regularly sends professors and staff who can speak Chinese to China, and established an information center at Beijing University last year to provide relevant information and services.
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