A delegation of the Russian-Chinese Subcommission on Communications and Information Technology visited INRTU.
On September 21, participants of the 25th meeting of the Subcommission on Communications and Information Technology of the Russian-Chinese Commission for the Preparation of Regular Meetings of Heads of Government visited INRTU. The delegation discussed prospects for cooperation in the field of education with the university's leadership, and also got acquainted with the university's scientific infrastructure.
Vice-Rector for International Affairs Stepan Bykov welcomed the representatives of the Russian-Chinese Subcommission on Communications and Information Technology:
"Among our university's partners and students, the largest number come from the People's Republic of China. Overall, the international activities of Irkutsk Polytechnic are maximally oriented toward cooperation with China."
Deputy Minister of Industry and Information Technology of the People's Republic of China Xiong Jijun noted that he was pleased to visit beautiful Irkutsk and get acquainted with INRTU - a reliable partner of many universities in the Celestial Empire. He recalled that 2026–2027 have been declared cross Years of Russian-Chinese cooperation in the field of education:
"The heads of state signed the relevant documents, which call for scientific cooperation between universities and research organizations, strengthening humanitarian ties, increasing academic exchange, and developing joint projects between Russia and China."
Xiong Jijun called Irkutsk a scientific and educational center of Russian Siberia, and put forward proposals for improving cooperation, which include: strengthening joint training of specialists, consolidating scientific, technical and innovative interaction, and expanding areas of joint activity.
Deputy Minister of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media of the Russian Federation Grigory Borisenko thanked Irkutsk Polytechnic for the warm reception and expressed hope for fruitful work.
Head of the International Affairs Directorate Anna Melenteva delivered a report to the delegation on the topic "INRTU's Experience in Cross-Border Interaction with Universities of the People's Republic of China." She noted that more than 700 students from China study at INRTU. Polytechnic cooperates and has cooperation agreements with 80 Chinese universities; every year more than 60 students go to China under academic mobility programs.
According to Anna Melenteva, INRTU implements 15 joint educational programs with Chinese partner universities, among which there are dual bachelor's and master's degree programs and network educational programs:
"In 2026, Irkutsk Polytechnic and Hebei North University opened a joint International Engineering Institute, within the framework of which bachelor's degree educational programs will be implemented, including two programs in the field of IT — 'Data Science and Big Data Technology' and 'Computer Science and Technology.'"
The meeting continued with a tour of the university for the honored guests, conducted by Dmitrii Dorokhin, Head of the Department of Monumental and Decorative Painting and Design named after V.G. Smagin, and Associate Professor Grigory Sverlov. The delegation of the Russian-Chinese Subcommission on Communications and Information Technology also visited the Research Laboratory of High-Performance Machining Technology under the scientific supervision of Andrey Savilov. The visit concluded with a tour of the expositions of the INRTU Mineralogical Museum.
It is worth noting that on September 20, the Rector of Irkutsk Polytechnic, Mikhail Kornyakov, took part in a meeting of the Expert Council of the Working Group on Cooperation in the Field of Artificial Intelligence of the Subcommission on Communications and Information Technology of the Russian-Chinese Commission for the Preparation of Regular Meetings of Heads of Government. He held a number of working discussions with key representatives of the Chinese AI industry and science. Mikhail Kornyakov discussed with Vice President of iFLYTEK JI Lin the prospects for using their platform in educational and scientific projects. iFLYTEK is a global leader in intelligent speech processing and one of the six members of China's "national team" for AI. The parties agreed to work out pilot initiatives for testing their solutions in the educational process and joint research.
