BEIJING, October 30. /TASS/. The number of participants in the Russian-Chinese educational exchange programs will grow from 90,000 to 100,000 by 2020, Russian Deputy Minister of Science and Higher Education Marina Borovskaya said in Beijing on Tuesday.

Earlier in the day, officials from a number of Russian and Chinese agencies signed nine documents concerning cooperation in the humanitarian field, education, culture, tourism, filmmaking, healthcare and sports. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova and her Chinese counterpart Sun Chunlan attended the signing ceremony.

"Student exchanges between Russia and China currently involve more than 50,000 people, while the total number of those participating in bilateral academic exchange programs nears 90,000," Borovskaya said at the signing ceremony. "At this rate, we will be able to achieve the desired goal of 100,000 by 2020," she added.

According to the Russian Education Ministry, as many as 17,971 Russian nationals currently study in China, while the number of Chinese students in Russian educational facilities is 30,233.

Meanwhile, Russia has been expanding its annual quota for Chinese students. In the 2015-2016 academic year, 850 seats were reserved for them but in fact, 1,277 Chinese nationals were admitted to Russian higher education facilities. A year later, the quota grew to 900 seats and 1,360 students were enrolled. The 2018-2019 quota rose to 950 seats compared to 931 in the 2017-2018 year.

In the current academic year, Chinese students expressed the most interest in disciplines such as philology, linguistics, economics, literary studies, management, journalism, international relations, Russian language teaching methods, mechatronics and robotics.