A Sino-US Education Cooperation Forum was held here Wednesday, as
part of activities during the 2002 International Education
Cooperation Week (IECW).
It
is the first time that China and the United States have
co-sponsored an educational event.
The forum invited nearly 300 officials, experts and scholars from
both countries to discuss such issues as the strategy on the
development of higher education after China's entry into the World
Trade Organization, and the way to govern universities.
According to the organizers, another important feature of the IECW,
namely, the International Education Exposition, will take place
afterwards. More than 20 reputable and renowned US universities
including Harvard University, George Washington University and
Massachusetts Institute of Technology will take the floor to
introduce to Chinese students programs for study in the United
States.
Jiang Zhenghua, vice-chairman of China's National People's Congress
Standing Committee, said technology and personnel are key to
international competition. The IECW with its theme of "education,
economy, science and cooperation", will help promote China's
educational sector.
Ji
Baocheng, chairman of the IECW organizing committee and president
of Chinese People's University, said that China's higher education
system has made great achievements, which have laid a solid
foundation for cooperation between China and other countries.
Statistics indicate that in 1949 when the New China was founded,
there were only 205 universities and 113,000 on-campus students
throughout the country; by the end of last year, the number of
Chinese higher education institutions and private universities
surged to 2,000 and 1,400 respectively, with a total of 12.14
million on-campus students.
Currently, China has the largest number of college graduates in the
world.
(Xinhua News
Agency September 26, 2002)