国内英语新闻:Chinese state councilor proposes integrated education with ASEAN countries

Liu said the China-ASEAN Education Minister Roundtable Conference marked a new stage in educational exchanges.

The conference was one of the major initiatives proposed by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao at the fourth East Asia Summit in Thailand in October last year.

It is the highest-level international meeting in the field of education under the framework of China-ASEAN cooperation.

"It is our shared responsibility to promote people-to-people contacts with a focus on education between China and ASEAN countries," she said.

China was ready to strengthen cooperation with ASEAN in people-to-people exchanges, she said.

Liu suggested China and the ASEAN nations create a new mechanism for exchanges, such as a high-level consultation mechanism, and institutionalize cooperation in education, science and technology, culture, health and sport.

She said they should make use of the China-ASEAN Center to promote friendly contacts and increase mutual understanding.

The China-ASEAN Center aimed to further tap cooperative potentials and attract more partners beyond the region.

Liu called for the implementation of the two China-ASEAN 10,000 Student Exchange Programs, making sure that the number of exchange students from ASEAN countries to China reached 100,000 by 2020 and vice versa.