MOSCOW, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- Shenzhen MSU-BIT University, the first joint Sino-Russian university, will light up the path for further educational cooperation between the two countries, said Victor Sadovnichy, rector of Russia's top Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU).
"MSU is ready to share its know-how and start not only language training, but also natural science research programs at the most advanced level from the very first months," Sadovnichy said in a recent interview with Xinhua about the university jointly founded by the Shenzhen municipal government, Beijing Institute of Technology (BIT) and MSU.
Last week, Shenzhen MSU-BIT University, located in south China's metropolis of Shenzhen, held a ceremony to open its inaugural semester with the first class of 113 undergraduate students.
The studies at the university actually began in August, when the first students from China started intensive Russian language courses, Sadovnichy told Xinhua.
He believed that the most important characteristic of the university was teaching in three languages: English, which is the recognized language of modern science, Russian and Chinese, which will undoubtedly play a key role in building a new model of cooperation between countries along the new Silk Road.
"Thanks to the support of the Shenzhen government, educational laboratories equipped with the most advanced equipment which will allow students to start their scientific work directly have been opened in the first months," Sadovnichy said.
Joint scientific work at the university is one of the best formats for rapprochement, cooperation and exchanges of ideas, he said.
The university will accept undergraduate and graduate students from China and abroad, with international students making up 30 percent of them. It plans to accommodate up to 5,000 students in the coming years, and begin to enroll doctorate students in 2018.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin both sent congratulatory messages to celebrate the inaugural semester of Shenzhen MSU-BIT University.
Xi said in his message that education is a major impetus for the development of a country and a key bond to promote exchanges between different peoples.
Cooperation has played a positive role in promoting mutual understanding between the two peoples as well as the development of the Sino-Russian comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination, Xi said.
Putin said in his message that educational cooperation is a key component of the Russia-China strategic partnership.
Sadovnichy said the university is a perfect starting point for the development of new innovative projects and entire trends in economic and social cooperation between the two countries.
"The capacity of the existing educational systems of our countries certainly allows and requires the establishment of more joint universities in the future," he added.
