On June 6, Olga Yurievna Vasilieva, President of the Russian Academy of Education (RAE), visited China National Academy of Educational Sciences (CNAES) and held talks with its President, Li Yongzhi.
Vasilieva reviewed the over two-decade history of friendly cooperation between RAE and CNAES, while providing an overview of the current status of RAE. She noted that the two institutions share significant commonalities in terms of functional positioning, historical traditions, organizational scale, and key research areas, and have established a solid foundation for collaborative research, academic event coordination, and personnel exchanges. Vasilieva expressed her hope to further deepen cooperation under the new era’s context, contributing to advancing education in both countries and enriching and leading academic exchanges in the field of educational science between China and Russia.
Li Yongzhi briefed Vasilieva and her delegation on the basic overview and current key priorities of CNAES. He emphasized that the friendly exchanges between China and Russia hold great significance for the world. The leaders of the two countries had just signed a joint statement last month, reaffirming their commitment to expanding bilateral people-to-people exchanges and cooperation in education and scientific research. As leading educational research institutions in their respective countries, CNAES and RAE should take on greater responsibility and mission in addressing the major challenges faced by global education amid technological transformation, social change, and shifting international dynamics. Through practical and in-depth research collaboration, they must advance the vision proposed by President Xi Jinping—realizing "education that accompanies every individual throughout life, education that is equitable and accessible to all, education tailored to each person's needs, and education that is more open and flexible"—not only in China and Russia but also at the regional and global levels.
Following the talks, Li Yongzhi and Vasilieva, representing their respective institutions, formally signed a strategic cooperation agreement. The agreement outlines joint academic research, organization of academic events, facilitation of personnel exchanges, and cooperation in academic publication and translation across key areas. These include educational transformation in the intelligent era, technology-enhanced educational assessment, STEM and elite innovation talent cultivation, teacher professional development, and international comparative studies in psychology and pedagogy.
The meeting was chaired by Vice President Li Xiaoqiang, with the attendance of Viktor Stepanovich Basyuk, Vice-President of RAE, Academician of RAE, Zhanna Vitalievna Sadovnikova, Vice President of RAE, and heads of relevant departments from CNAES. Prior to the talks, Vasilieva and her delegation specially visited the Ancient Books Library of CNAES.