BEIJING, Nov. 27(Xinhuanet)-- China will, as always, further educational exchange and cooperation with African countries, and expand educational support to African countries, said Chen Zhili, Chinese state councilor here Sunday.

Chen made the remarks at the opening ceremony of the Sino-African Education Minister Forum with officials and scholars in the field from 17 African countries attending.

Chen said China has more than 300 million educated people, rank first in the world. China has witnessed an unprecedented speed in education development by adopting the national strategy of invigorating the country through science, technology and education,and building up the national strength with talented people. As a result, its education development also boosted the development of other sectors.

Looking back at the long history of Sino-African friendship, Chen said the Chinese and African peoples are all-weather friends jointly undergoing hardship and difficulties. The two sides have also carried out various forms of cooperation and communication ineducational field, which also gained fruitful results.

China will continue its educational support to all African countries by receiving overseas students, dispatching Chinese scholars, hosting various kinds of training programs, and launching Chinese language teaching in African countries, among others.

Chinese Minister of Education Zhou Ji said that China and African countries, all as developing countries, share the same task in educational development while facing similar difficulties and challenges. The forum is designed to invite scholars from developing countries to have in-depth discussions, thus finding out solutions to further development of the educational sector.

The Sino-African Education Minister Forum is a follow-up action of the Sino-African Cooperation Forum held in Beijing in 2000. The17 African countries attending the the education minister forum include Benin, Congo, Egypt, Mali, Kenya, South Africa, Nigeria, Sudan, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Algeria, Mozambique, Tanzania, Djibouti, Mauritania, Cameroon, and Senegal. Enditem