The People's Republic of China has officially announced that it will award 100 scholarships to EU students from 2007. China is to implement a five-year programme beginning in January 2007 to provide 100 scholarships each year to EU students wishing to learn Chinese. As part of a more cohesive strategy for cooperation between China and the EU in the fields of education and culture, the two sides have agreed that they should take action to create viable mechanisms and institutional bodies to support the establishment of an official cooperation agreement between the People's Republic of China and the European Union in the field of education.

Given the topics which were discussed at this conference between the EU and the People's Republic of China, does the Commission propose to provide financial support in the form of equivalent scholarships to EU students wishing to learn Chinese, thereby consolidating cooperation with China? What other objectives were agreed in order to strengthen China's cooperation with the EU on matters relating to education and exchanges?