China Week in Tambov was held for the third time. In addition to Derzhavin University, its co-organizers included the regional branch of the Russian-Chinese Friendship Society, the White Elephant Tambov Center for Cooperation with Asian Countries, and the Qiming Culture (China).
Like in the previous year, China Week included three programs: academic, economic, and cultural. During the first program, Oleg Timofeev, Deputy Editor-in-Chief of the Far Eastern Studies, and Alla Verchenko, member of the Central Board of the Russian-Chinese Friendship Society, and Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of China and Modern Asia of the Russian Academy of Sciences, introduced Derzhavin University students to the specifics of China's foreign policy. Special attention was paid to relations between our countries, as this year's China Week in Tambov coincides with a shared holiday: the 80th anniversary of the Victory over militarist Japan and the end of World War II. Lecturers from partner universities in China - Cheng Cheng and Cui Huiying from Anshan Normal University and Sun Jiawen from the Binhai Institute of Foreign Affairs of Tianjin International Studies University - delivered online lectures on Chinese cuisine and traditional culture.
The economic program received particular attention. A delegation from Jiangsu Province, one of the largest provinces in the People's Republic of China, visited Tambov. It included representatives of the Guangcai Group, led by its president, Mr. Chen Jiangtao. The delegation had meetings with the University's rector, Pavel Moiseev, the Tambov regional administration, and the region's business community. Agreements were reached to expand cooperation between Derzhavin University and educational centers in Jiangsu Province.
The cultural program of China Week included the now-traditional master classes by state-ranked calligrapher Professor Qiming, who has visited Derzhavin University several times. The highlight was the Exhibition of Children's Drawings by Tambov and Chinese Schoolchildren, held in the University Fundamental Library. Its theme was the friendship between the peoples of Russia and China.
- This year marks 25 years since Derzhavin University began collaborating with its Chinese partners, - says Rector Pavel Moiseev. - Now we are giving these ties a special, strategic nature. We intend to strengthen them, as 2026-2027 were recently declared by Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping as the 'Years of Education in Russia and China.' I am quite confident that the recently concluded China Week in Tambov will stimulate the development of ties with Chinese partners, not only at Derzhavin University. As an internationally oriented university, we facilitate connections between Tambov businesses and their Chinese partners. We are working to establish sister-city relations between Tambov and the Chinese city of Nantong. We are working towards a new level of mutual openness and development between the Tambov Region and Jiangsu Province. For myself, I call it this way: “Derzhavin University speaks Chinese well!”
