China will spend 150 million yuan (23.6 mln U.S. dollars) to help 5,000 college teachers from inland regions pursue advanced studies during the 2011-2015 period, the Ministry of Education said in a statement Monday.

The move is among a broader effort by the ministry to cultivate a talent pool to serve the country's "Go West" strategy aimed at giving a boost to the economic development of the less developed western regions.

In June 2001, the ministry initiated a campaign allowing the 13 most prestigious universities to offer one-to-one assistance and carry out "comprehensive cooperation" with their counterparts in western regions.

The area of cooperation among these universities ranges from discipline construction, the training of students, and teaching faculty to improve the universities' management and operation system.

Currently, in addition to the 13 universities that were initially designated by the ministry, another 81 colleges have joined in.

They are offering assistance to 67 colleges scattered in 18 provincial-level regions in China's hinterland area, according to the ministry.

For the past 10 years, more than 5,000 teachers from the 67 colleges have benefited from the campaign and engaged in advanced studies.

Meanwhile, more than 1,400 teachers have been sent to these colleges to give lectures, according to statistics released by the Education Ministry.