On 9 October, a delegation from Russian State University for the Humanities, led by President Andrey Loginov, Vice-President Maksim Suslenkov, and Director of the President’s Office Fatima Sharan, visited Shanghai University of Finance and Economics (SUFE). The delegation was received by SUFE President Liu Yuanchun, with participation in the meeting from Dean Wang Xianhua of the School of Humanities and Director Ding Dong of the Office of International Exchange and Cooperation.
President Liu extended a warm welcome to the guests and introduced the university’s basic information, covering its history, academic strengths, student and faculty size, and development strategy. He noted that SUFE originated from the Department of Commerce established in 1917 at Nanjing Higher Normal School and was relocated to Shanghai in 1921 to form Shanghai College of Commerce, becoming China’s first institution dedicated to commerce. Next year, SUFE will celebrate its 110th anniversary. He stated that in the context of artificial intelligence profoundly reshaping higher education, the university is guided by its 'Digital-Intelligent New Finance' strategy, focusing on exploring new patterns of AI in knowledge innovation and resource allocation. SUFE has established the School of Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence and the AI Finance Development and Service Centre, co-founded the Digital Economy College with Alibaba Group, and jointly developed a financial large model with Ant Group. Additionally, the university plans to launch the International Alliance for Digital-Intelligent New Finance next year, aiming to build an independent knowledge system and talent cultivation system for the digital era.
President Loginov expressed gratitude for the warm reception and introduced the history, academic structure, and recent developments of Russian State University for the Humanities. He noted that the university’s origins date back to 1687 and that it was formed in 1991 through the merger of institutions including the former Higher Party School of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. It is a leading institution in the field of humanities and social sciences in Russia, currently enrolling around 200,000 students and employing over 10,000 faculty and staff. The university offers more than 300 educational programmes in over 50 languages and hosts 16 institutes, including those specialising in historical archives, oriental cultures, international relations, economic and social sciences, law, psychology, and information security. He mentioned that in response to the profound changes brought about by AI, the university is rapidly adjusting its curriculum but still faces challenges in adapting to the fast-evolving technological environment, expressing a desire to learn from SUFE’s experience and practices in applying AI in education. Subsequently, representatives from both sides exchanged views on platform economy, digital law, and collaboration in the field of humanities and social sciences, as well as on teacher exchanges, student exchanges, and research cooperation. Both parties agreed to organise relevant faculties and experts to explore substantive cooperation in the aforementioned areas.
The Russian State University for the Humanities (RSUH) is a comprehensive Russian higher education institution with a strong tradition in the humanities, excelling in fields such as philosophy, linguistics, and history. The university houses a range of teaching and research institutions, including the Institute of Socio-Economic Sciences, the Faculty of Cultural Studies, the Faculty of Eurasian and Oriental Studies, the Faculty of Law, and the Faculty of Theoretical and Applied Linguistics. It has engaged in extensive cooperation with Chinese universities in areas such as law, economics, and language and culture. Its Confucius Institute was once awarded the title of 'Confucius Institute of the Year'.
