Mr Zukov noted that Russian-Chinese relations of strategic partnership, including cooperation in the sphere of humanities, have reached the highest level in history and continue to develop dynamically. He said that this was facilitated by the events held in the framework of the Years of Russia and China on the territories of both countries. "They have made it possible to make relations more meaningful and involve broad strata of the public," he said.

Mr Zhukov reported that the Russian side has prepared a draft of the new working plan on bilateral cooperation in education for 2009-2012, which is "designed to promote ties between the educational communities of the two countries, the growth of their academic exchanges, and the reciprocal study of each other's languages, cultures, and traditions."

He said that at present, more than 20,000 Chinese citizens are studying in Russian higher educational establishments.