On 28-30 September, the Rosa Khutor alpine resort hosted the 4th Russian-Chinese Youth Festival “Building Together - Towards a Common Future”, which this year was held in the run-up to the celebration of the National Day of the People’s Republic of China and the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries. The Russian International Olympic University acted as a festival partner.
The main idea behind the festival was to form a solid foundation for strategic cooperation between Russia and China through creating opportunities for socio-cultural interactions among the youth and training highly-skilled professionals to facilitate relations between the two nations.
Held annually with the support of the Embassy of the People's Republic of China in Russia, the Russian-Chinese Friendship Society and the Union of Chinese Entrepreneurs in Russia, the festival provides a platform for intercultural and professional contacts between young specialists from Russia and China. The organisational work is implemented by the Moscow Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Sergey Serdyukov, a RIOU graduate and current member of the RIOU staff, took part in the festival’s business programme giving a talk in which he reminded the audience about the unique character of the Olympic University and RIOU’s extensive experience in collaborating with Chinese partners in the field of education. Over the 15 years of its operation, RIOU has provided training to renowned Chinese athletes, including Olympic champions, and various specialists in sports mega event management.
Using specific cases, RIOU’s expert and lecturer Andrey Malygin spoke about the on-going cooperation between Russia and China in the spheres of tourism and sports.
The festival attracted great interest among RIOU students on the international Master of Sport Administration (MSA) course, who attended both the business and cultural events of the forum. This year’s MSA class includes 4 Chinese students, who have won the prestigious RIOU scholarships to support their studies.
The RIOU students were awarded festival participant certificates. They took part in various workshops including in Chinese calligraphy and other traditional arts, and visited the cultural and ethnographic centre “My Russia”.
MSA student Yujun Zhang, China, said, “It is a great honour for me to represent RIOU at the Chinese-Russian International Festival of Youth Programmes. The agenda of the event was very rich and carefully planned. During my visit to the Rosa Khutor Resort and My Russia Park, I learnt about traditional Russian architecture and culture. I wish my country a happy 75th anniversary, as well as prosperity and growth.”
Another MSA student from China, Wenjie Shi, said that he is inspired by the prospects of cooperation between Russian and China in the field of sport, and he would be delighted to make his own contribution to the active two-way collaboration process.
MSA student Justina Golopolosova has extensive experience of working in Chinese projects. She spent more than four years developing the popular TikTok application, as well as working as a business development manager for a Chinese mobile app. She said, "The forum provided a great opportunity to share knowledge and experience with Chinese students, many of whom were interested in career prospects in mobile technology and digital platforms. It was useful listening to lectures on careers and education in China, as I already had an idea of the business culture and specifics of working in this country. I also met Russian specialists teaching Chinese, and we exchanged contact information for further cooperation.”
