'It is vital to develop modern Asian and African studies and expand our knowledge of Asian partners'
Liudmila Veselova, St Petersburg School of Economics and Management
I got my bachelor's, master's and PhD degrees at the Faculty of Asian and African Studies of St Petersburg State University. During my studies, I went on mobility programmes three times to China, Finland and Germany.
My research interests are pretty extensive, they include the modern history of China, the development of the middle class there and their consumer habits. Management of talents in the countries of Southeast Asia as well as the role of informal relations (guanxi) in the PRC.
I believe that it is vital to study the changes that modern China is undergoing right now. Furthermore, the Chinese middle class is a prime engine of the Chinese society which has the most purchasing power and is constantly growing which means that it influences all socio-economic issues in the country. By understanding the ideology and needs of the middle class we can help Russian business to enter the PRC market and successfully perform business activities.
For a long time, I had been combining work in business and teaching career but in 2019, I got an invitation from HSE University to take charge of the master's programme in Asian and African Studies 'Business and Politics in Modern Asia'. I gladly accepted this offer as we managed to combine in this applied programme business and education and help young Asian studies specialists obtain the necessary skills and find their place in the labour market.
The best part of working at HSE University is the opportunity to communicate with the talented and ambitious youth. This gives me energy and the necessary impetus for further development.
Besides, I see the results of my work as the graduates of my programmes keep in touch, visit the programme as guest speakers and experts, invite me to their projects and actively develop their careers. What is important, most of them work with Asia, which means that my efforts and the work of the master's programmes faculty were not in vain. It is incredibly valuable! Besides, for the last two years, HSE University has been actively involved in international activities in which I also participate. For instance, thanks to expanding the relations with India, last year, I had a chance to join several projects with Indian colleagues and even organise a Winter School in January of this year. All these things make the work at HSE University extremely fascinating.