The total enrollment of the higher education institutions in south China's Guangdong Province will expand by some 20 percent to 163,400 this year.

Lu Ruihua, the provincial governor, said Guangdong will further improve its educational structure and quality so as to provide more education opportunities for people with different academic backgrounds.

Lu added that a special "university city" will also be developed in the provincial capital Guangzhou within a couple of years.

Featuring numerous advanced academic and research institutions and hi-tech firms, the "university city" is expected to cover about 43.3 square kilometers and to have a population of about 350,000 to 400,000.

The provincial government is to allocate 2 billion yuan (about US$241 million) to this grand program within the coming two years, according to Lu.

(Xinhua News Agency January 31, 2002)