On the afternoon of May 13th, Oleg P. Gribunov, President of Baikal State University visited our school and held an exchange meeting at the Meeting Room 205 of the school.

VIPs of Wuhan University attended the meeting were as the followings:

Xiaoguang Wang, Dean of our School;

Lihong Zhou, Associate Dean of our School;

Zhiyu Chen, Associate Dean of the School of International Education;

Yiwen Mo, Director of the Admissions Office, School of International Education;

Yuan Tian, Head of the Russian Department, The School of Foreign Languages and Literature;

Min Zhang, Head of the Department of Digital Economy and Intelligent Business;

Yiwei Gong, Deputy Head of the Department of Digital Economy and Intelligent Business;

Weiwei Yan, Deputy Head of the Department of Digital Economy and Intelligent Business;

Nan Wang, Associate Professor at the Department of Digital Economy and Intelligent Business.

Lihong Zhou presided over the meeting.

Xiaoguang Wang delivered a welcome address. He stated that this was the first time the School of Information Management had a formal meeting with representatives from a cooperative institution in Russia, which was of great significance and a concrete measure to implement educational cooperation between Chinese and Russian universities and promote the in-depth development of the strategic partnership of cultural exchanges between China and Russia. Xiaoguang Wang briefly introduced the development and disciplinary advantages of the school. He emphasized that the school ranks among the top ten in the QS World University Rankings in the field of library and information science. In recent years, it has been continuously expanding disciplinary boundaries, extending from traditional library and information education to emerging fields such as intelligent computing and information resource management, and actively serving social digital transformation, the digital economy, and digital culture construction. He particularly mentioned that the e-commerce major is a characteristic and advantageous major of the school, which is very popular among international students. He looks forward to more Russian students coming to the school for exchange and study in the future to jointly promote Sino-Russian trade exchanges and regional economic development.

Oleg P. Gribunov introduced the history, departments, key disciplines, and international development of the Baikal State University. He highly affirmed the cooperation potential between the two universities and said that this visit not only deepened the mutual understanding between the two sides but also laid a good foundation for future cooperation in joint training, teacher exchanges, scientific research cooperation, etc., and is expected to open a new chapter of two-way exchanges and cooperation.

In the subsequent exchange session, Min Zhang delivered a speech on behalf of the Department of Digital Economy and Intelligent Business. She pointed out that Wuhan University has carried out academic exchanges in e-commerce and related fields with educational and teaching institutions in more than 10 countries and regions around the world, and the joint training programs have attracted participation of outstanding students from more than 20 countries and regions around the world. Yiwei Gong introduced the general information of the Department of Digital Economy and Intelligent Business from the perspectives of program teaching staff, experimental and practical teaching platforms, practical teaching and cooperation, training objectives, and the training of international students, and put forward cooperation plans between the two sides in cooperative education program, curriculum co-construction, and joint talent training. Zhiyu Chen said that the School of International Education will fully support this cooperation and provide all-round guarantees for the program, including policy support, language services, enrollment coordination, and management of international students.

After the meeting, President Oleg P. Gribunov visited the branch library and terrace on the fourth floor of the School, and spoke highly of the school's environment and open and shared space atmosphere. The school also presented commemorative gifts with Chinese characteristics and school culture to the guests, expressing a warm welcome and sincere gratitude for their visit.

After discussion, the two sides reached preliminary consensus on student training, joint compilation of teaching materials, teacher exchanges, joint organization of international academic forums, and joint application for Sino-Russian cooperation scientific research projects. This visit has further consolidated the cooperation foundation between the two universities. Taking this meeting as an opportunity, the two sides will continue to deepen cooperation in academic research, talent training, and international development and other fields to promote the international cooperation in higher education to a higher level.

The Baikal State University was founded in 1930 and is one of the most influential institutions of higher education in the Far East and Siberian regions of Russia. It has long been committed to the development of disciplines such as economics, management, law, and humanities and social sciences and has a tradition of international education.