Chinese State Councilor Liu Yandong says she expects Harvard University to continue playing an active role in promoting exchanges of education, science and technology, and culture between China and the United States.

Chinese State Councilor Liu Yandong delivers a speech during her visit at Harvard University in Boston, the United States, April 13, 2011. [Zhang Jun/Xinhua]

Harvard has shared a long-standing friendship with China and has established fruitful cooperation with several higher education institutions in China in recent years, Liu said at a welcome reception hosted by the world-renowned university on Wednesday.

Liu also briefly introduced China's 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-2015) for socioeconomic development and China's medium- and long-term educational reform and development planning outline in the next 10 years.

She noted that China will strengthen its cooperation and communications with U.S. education circles and share advanced educational notions and experiences with them.

Liu also said that China will support exchanges of high-level teachers and students between the two countries and support the reciprocal recognition of academic degrees and scores to expand student exchanges.

China welcomes Harvard to deepen its cooperation with China's higher education institutions and jointly initiate projects on human resources training programs and scientific-technological innovation, Liu said.

Drew Gilpin Faust, president of Harvard, said that the university has long been dedicated to China studies and has established good cooperative relations with China.

Harvard is willing to forge closer ties with China in the fields such as student exchanges, personnel training and academic research, Faust said.

Liu also attended a ceremony to witness the signing of a document on the establishment of a joint scholarship program between the China Scholarship Council and Harvard.