ST. PETERSBURG, September 16. /TASS/. The number of participants of student exchanges between Russia and China has reached 90,000. By 2020 this indicator will stand at 100,000, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova said after the 20th session of the Russian-Chinese Commission for Humanitarian Cooperation on Monday.

"The sphere of education is a key one to us. Our two leaders, Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping, set the task to bring the number of student exchanges between the two states to 100,000 by 2020. Today we may say that we practically approached this figure in a rather short period: there are more than 90,000 students, and I think that we will reach the indicator of 100,000 by 2020," the deputy prime minister said.

Golikova also noted the unique joint project of Russia and China, which, she said, is second to none. "It is a joint project of universities - the Moscow State University and the University of Science and Technology Beijing. Now they are operating as a joint university in Shenzhen, which provides the possibility of receiving both a diploma of the Moscow State University and a diploma of the University of Science and Technology Beijing. Education is carried out in three languages - Russian, Chinese and English," she explained.

The deputy prime minister noted that on Monday the sides agreed to create a working group that will promote programs that the joint university is implementing.