Published on: 2026-05-19
Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian –
An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
Moscow, May 19 /Xin Hua/ — Cooperation between the border regions of China and Russia has reached a qualitatively new level in recent years. In addition to the growth in cargo turnover, the strengthening of trade and economic exchanges, and the implementation of large infrastructure projects on both sides of the border, bilateral ties in the fields of culture and education are intensively expanding.
A group of students from one of the schools in the Russian city of Chita went through customs control at the Manzhouli checkpoint in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region / Northern China, located on the China-Russia border. The accompanying teacher Anna Nikolaeva described how the border crossing process has changed after the introduction of the visa-free regime between Russia and China. “Everything has become much easier and faster. Children can calmly travel and get acquainted with China,” she noted.
The Chinese city of Manzhouli borders the Russian Trans-Baikal Territory. This is the largest transport hub between China and Russia. Up to 50 percent of the total cargo flow between the countries passes through the Manzhouli – Trans-Baikal automobile and railway checkpoints. Moreover, this is a key link in the China – Mongolia – Russia economic corridor and the “eastern corridor” within the framework of China – Europe railway freight transportation.
But Manzhouli is not only trade and logistics. In recent years, the city has become one of the centers of Chinese-Russian educational exchanges. According to an employee of the Department of Science, Technology and Education of the Administration of Culture, Tourism, Radio and Television of Hulunbuir Autonomous Region of Inner Mongolia Nu Yu, since 2023, Manzhouli has been visited by more than 40 thousand schoolchildren from Russia. Moreover, just in the first two spring months of this year, more than 4,000 Russian children have been to the city.
“Since 2023, the demand for educational trips to China has increased significantly, especially among student groups,” said the head of one of the travel agencies in Manzhouli, Lin Zhaoxia. She noted that the autumn, spring, and summer holidays are peak seasons for educational trips.
The tip of the brush lightly touches the rice paper, and the pleasant aroma of ink fills the room… In the calligraphy class at the Manzhouli Institute of Russian Language /MILA/, a 20-year-old student from Irkutsk, Russia, Nastya, carefully writes the hieroglyph 福 /fu — happiness/. The girl is studying law at Baikal State University /BSU/, and she came to China on an exchange program. She has been studying Chinese since the sixth grade and already speaks it fluently. “The Chinese language is very beautiful, and Chinese culture is very attractive. In the future, I want to work in the field of trade and economic cooperation between Russia and China,” Nastya shared.
The Director of the Center for International Cooperation and Exchange at MIRI Yu Tse said that since 2014, more than 200 Russian students have studied at the institute under various programs, including the double degree system and short-term language internships. Currently, there are 34 students and 13 teachers from Russia at the institute.
Manzhouli also collaborates with several schools in the Trans-Baikal Territory, where Chinese is studied. Teachers from the City Youth Development Center travel monthly for a week to Trans-Baikal and conduct lessons there.
At the same time, more and more Chinese students, including those from border cities, are going to study in Russia. At the Transbaikal State University (ZabGU) in the city of Chita, the number of Chinese students exceeds 400 people, which amounts to more than 90 percent of the total number of foreign students.
9-year-old Zhang Shenlao from Manzhouli is studying in the master’s program “Russian Language and Literature” at ZABGU and intends to help his parents in the future, who are engaged in trade with Russia. His compatriot — 18-year-old student from Zibo / Shandong Province / An Xiongchen — is studying international economics and trade. The young man is confident that the knowledge they acquire will allow them to contribute to deepening business cooperation between the two countries.
Vice-Rector of ZabGU Natalya Gusevskaya associates the announced Years of Education between China and Russia (2026-2027) with great hopes for further development of cooperation and academic exchanges. She noted that the university is proud of its history of cooperation with China, which has already lasted more than 70 years. To date, ZabGU has established partnership relations with more than 20 Chinese universities, including Hulunbuir University and Harbin Polytechnic University.
The Minister of Science and Professional Education of the Trans-Baikal Territory, Natalya Vikulova, believes that Russia and China have a solid foundation for cooperation in areas such as logistics, mining industry, and medicine. She said that recently representatives of colleges, technical schools, and vocational schools of the Trans-Baikal have visited China for exchanging experience and establishing contacts. “In some ways we can adopt Chinese experience, in some ways we can share our own. We are very interested in China’s advanced experience in creating innovation laboratories,” noted N. Vikulova.
The Cross Years of Education open up new opportunities for student and school exchanges. This initiative, supported by the leaders of China and Russia, is aimed at strengthening intercultural and educational cooperation and will become an important stage in the development of multifaceted interaction between the border regions of the two countries. –0–
Please note; This information is raw content, obtained directly from the source of information. It is an exact report of what the source claims and does not necessarily reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.