Chinese Minister of Education Chen Baosheng (R) and his Ukrainian counterpart Liliya Grynevych attend the 2nd meeting of the subcommittee on education cooperation of the Chinese-Ukrainian intergovernmental commission in Kiev, Ukraine, on June 23, 2017. Chen Baosheng held talks with Liliya Grynevych here on Friday and they agreed to promote bilateral cooperation in the education sector. (Xinhua/Chen Junfeng)
KIEV, June 23 (Xinhua) -- Visiting Chinese Minister of Education Chen Baosheng held talks with his Ukrainian counterpart Liliya Grynevych here on Friday and they agreed to promote bilateral cooperation in the education sector.
The negotiation took place during the 2nd meeting of the subcommittee on education cooperation of the Chinese-Ukrainian intergovernmental commission.
While addressing the meeting, Chen said the cooperation between China and Ukraine has been developing smoothly in the past years.
"Five years have passed since the first meeting of the subcommittee in 2012. During these five years, we did a great job, practically fulfilled all the obligations that were agreed upon," Chen said.
China and Ukraine have recently witnessed increasing academic mobility, strengthened cooperation between universities of the two countries and expansion in teaching of national languages, the minister said.
For her part, Grynevych stressed that Ukraine attaches great importance to its education cooperation with China and stands ready to enhance the partnership in various directions.
"The first direction is the development of direct ties between the universities of Ukraine and China. 67 Ukrainian universities have already signed cooperation agreements with more than 200 universities, institutes, colleges and enterprises of China," she said.
"Under these deals, scientific and academic exchanges are carried out, joint forums and conferences are held, scientific materials are published," she added.
Among other areas to expand the bilateral cooperation, Grynevych listed the introduction of Chinese language lessons into Ukrainian school curricula and the establishment of Confucius Institute of Science and Technology in Ukraine.
It is also very important to enhance support for the existing Confucius Institutes in Ukraine and centers of the Ukrainian language in China, she emphasized.
During the meeting, Chen and Grynevych have extended the deal on the bilateral cooperation in the education sector and agreed to outline a new cooperation roadmap by the end of this year.
Besides, the ministers have approved a plan of priority measures to further promote cooperation in education sector between China and Ukraine.
The sides agreed to strengthen student exchanges, deepen collaboration in scientific and technical education, promote interuniversity cooperation, and share experience in tutoring Chinese and Ukrainian languages.
Chen arrived in Kiev on Thursday for a three-day visit.
The first meeting of the subcommittee on education cooperation of the Chinese-Ukrainian intergovernmental commission was held in March 2012 in Sanya, south China's Hainan Province.
