China and Russia have conducted a series of influential educational events during the "Year of Russian Language" in China, officials from both countries said Monday.
Chinese Deputy Minister of Education Hao Ping and Nikolai Bulaev, general director of the Russian Federal Education and Sciences Agency, on Monday co-hosted the ninth meeting of the sub-committee for education of the Sino-Russo intergovernmental committee on cultural cooperation.
Both sides spoke highly of the bilateral ties and cultural cooperation between China and Russia, including the "Year of Russian Language" series of events in China this year.
According to partial statistics, more than 260 activities, most of which were educational, have been staged throughout China.
Both sides have promoted the implementation of agreements concerning educational cooperation and language learning, and have increased the number of students and researchers sent to each other's universities.
More than 18,000 Chinese are studying in Russia and nearly 9,000 Russians are in China.
Officials from both countries also laid out major projects for the future, including the completion of the "Year of Russian Language" in China and the preparation and staging of the "Year of Chinese Language" in Russia in 2010.
They also plan to establish more Russian language centers in China and more Confucius Institutes in Russia.
Both sides also agreed to arrange a number of programs, including art festivals, language contests and chancellors' forum. A summer camp program that invites some 1,000 Russian primary and secondary school students to China will also be organized next year based on a consensus reached between President Hu Jintao and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.
(Xinhua News Agency September 8, 2009)
