Training of Chinese-speaking specialists discussed at the Forum of Sinologists

On 24-26 November the International Forum of Sinologists took place in Moscow, bringing together representatives of the academic community, school education, Russian and Chinese business and the translation industry. The discussion platforms were organised by the Association for the Advancement of Sinology in Russia.

The Forum was opened by Alyona Pavlova, President of the Association for the Advancement of Sinology in Russia, and Prof. Deng Ying, First Secretary of the Education Department of the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in the Russian Federation. In her welcoming speech, Prof. Deng Ying noted the growing interest in studying Chinese in Russia among both students and adults, which is explained by the strengthening of Russian-Chinese non-economic ties and the positive dynamics of tourist and educational exchanges.

At the cultural salon the atmosphere of China was recreated by masters of making Chinese lanterns and knots, calligraphers, masters of tea ceremony and paper folding.

Volgograd State University was represented at the Forum by Marina Fadeeva, Director of the Institute of Philology and Intercultural Communication. Dr Fadeeva’s report was devoted to the linguocultural practices of cooperation between Russia and China, and included a description of joint projects between VolSU and its partners: Jilin University, Renmin University of China and Zaozhuang University.

The “Linguistics” programme with the “Translation and Foreign Languages (English and Chinese)” specialisation aimed at training linguists, translators and interpreters who are equally proficient in two languages was also presented at the educational exhibition.

The programme will be available from the summer of 2024.

“Representatives of large Russian companies confirmed the high demand for Chinese-speaking intercultural communication specialists, as the number of vacancies in Russia requiring Chinese language proficiency has increased by 40% compared to last year”, Dr. Fadeeva said. “There are more than 10 agricultural and industrial enterprises with the involvement of Chinese capital in the Volgograd region, so this specialisation for linguists will respond to both the national and regional labour markets”.