Jiangsu province, the economic powerhouse of China, is working to expand cooperation with California in education and culture.

The province launched on Tuesday an international education agency in Pasadena, California - its fourth overseas education base after those in the UK, Canada and Australia.

The Jiangsu-California International Education Center, an affiliate of the Jiangsu Provincial Department of Education, is tasked with promoting the bilateral relationship between China and the US through education, professional training and business development. "Jiangsu has been focusing on its economic and trade relationship with California," Chen Zhenning, vice-governor of Jiangsu, told guests at the kickoff reception. "The establishment of the center means the province and the state will start comprehensive cooperation, especially in cultural and educational exchange."

Jiangsu has a strong reputation for education and scholarship. It produced 66 of China's top scholars during the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties.

Today, Jiangsu has more college students than any other province, and the number of fields of study offered in its colleges and universities ranks second in China. Jiangsu has about 13 million students in its 14,000 schools, universities and colleges. Its 137 universities and colleges serve 1.87 million students, the largest provincial population of higher education students in the country.

"Jiangsu will strengthen international education exchanges and cooperation in the next few years with the aim of becoming advanced in educational exchanges with other countries by 2020," Chen said.

A series of agreements on educational cooperation was signed at the Fourth Jiangsu-California Joint Economic Committee meeting on Monday.

Chen said he hoped the education center would serve as a training center for overseas talent and Chinese teachers and students, as well as a bridge to expand cooperation and deepen friendship between Jiangsu and California.

The center will provide overseas study trips for thousands of students from elementary school through college. The agency said it would also arrange teacher training and professional development programs for international delegations.

Twenty-eight schools in Jiangsu have established sister school relationships with US schools. Last year, more than 3,000 primary and secondary school students and more than 100 teachers participated in short-term training programs in the US, according to Xu Zimin, deputy director of Jiangsu Provincial Education Department.

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