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

The province on Tuesday launched an international education agency in Pasadena, California, its fourth overseas education base after 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 kick-off reception. "The establishment of the center means the province and the state will start comprehensive cooperation, especially in cultural and educational exchange."

Jiangsu boasts a legendary reputation for education and scholarship. It produced 66 of China's top scholars during the Ming and Qing dynasties.

Today, the province has the largest number of students with higher educations compared to other provinces, and the number of disciplines offered in its colleges and universities ranks second in China.

It currently has about 14,000 schools, universities and colleges and about 13 million students. Among them, there are 137 universities and colleges with 1.87 million students, the largest student population at its level in the country.

"Jiangsu attaches great importance to education and foreign exchanges, and international education has been greatly improved," said Chen. "Jiangsu will strengthen international education exchanges and cooperation in the next few years with the aim of becoming an advanced province in educational exchanges with other countries by 2020."

Education cooperation between Jiangsu and California has a long history despite the long distance, he said. A series of agreements on educational cooperation was signed at the Fourth Jiangsu-California Joint Economic Committee held on Monday.

Chen said he hoped the 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 students to university students.

The center said it would also arrange teacher training programs and professional development programs for international delegations.

The services include overseas study tours, a study abroad service, foreign teacher recruitment, teacher training abroad, an international forum for school principals and a Discover Jiangsu Cultural Immersion Program.

Twenty-eight schools in Jiangsu have established sister school relationships with counterparts in the US. 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.

"This year, more than 30 school principals in the US are expected to attend the International Forum for School Principals in Jiangsu," said Xu. "Last year, over 100 Chinese principals attended the forum held in Los Angeles."

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