A total of 59 recipients of Chinese-donated Asia Scholarship Fund will enter Chinese universities this fall, according to the Education Forum for Asia (EFA) held in Beijing Thursday.
  
"Entrusted by EFA, China Scholarship Council (CSC) is responsible for the application, enrollment and general management of the Fund," said CSC Secretary-General Zhang Xiuqin Thursday reception hosted by EFA, a Beijing-based non-governmental organization established as a platform to address Asian education issues.
   
The application requirements, process of this fund and other information have been laid out on the website of CSC, Zhang said.
   
"Now it is time for Asian students coming to China to apply for admission," Zhang said.
   
Each Asian country may recommend and nominate one or two qualified candidates for the scholarship, she said.
   
"The grantees will study in prestigious Chinese universities, including Beijing University, Beijing Film Academy and Harbin Institute of Technology," Zhang said.
   
According to EFA Secretary-General Yao Wang, EFA will convene its annual session in Beijing in mid-October, in which senior educational officials from Asian countries will discuss Asia's education development strategy. Four exhibitions on education will also be staged during the session.
   
The forum, initiated in December 2003 by some retired Asian statesmen, was held for the first time in August 2004.

(Xinhua News Agency March 4, 2005)