The Republic of Korea (ROK) and China have maintained close cooperative ties in the political, economic, cultural and educational fields in recent years. 

According to official ROK statistics published at the end of last year, China ranked number one in the country's annual foreign trade. The ROK has also become China's third largest trading partner, exclusive of economic blocs.

Intimate political and economic cooperation has led to frequent exchanges of citizens between the two countries. Last year, the number of visits between the two countries exceeded 3.5 million.

The two neighbors initiated educational exchanges and cooperation right after they established diplomatic relations in 1992.

The smooth political and economic ties have undoubtedly boosted bilateral educational exchanges and cooperation.

This is especially the case since the signing of an agreement on educational exchanges and cooperation between the education ministries of the two countries in 1995.

The two countries have committed themselves to sending 10 students to the other country annually on government scholarships. The number of students studying in the other country at their own expense has also been rapidly increasing.

By the end of last year, the number of ROK students studying in China had reached 50,000, making it the country with the most students in China. And in the ROK, there are also nearly 10,000 Chinese students.

The rapid development of bilateral ties in such a short period of time has greatly benefited from common cultural and historical backgrounds over the past 3,000 years.

For example, both countries were influenced by Confucianism, which was passed on to Korea from China.

Flourishing ties have also benefited from good opinions among the peoples towards each other, and because the two are neighbors.

Chinese and Koreans look similar, so much so that it is difficult to tell them apart on the street. It is even more convenient to travel to Beijing from Seoul than to Shanghai and other major cities of China.

The currently strong "Chinese wave" in the ROK and the "Korean wave" in China suggest a brighter future for bilateral relations.

Under the influence of this "Chinese craze," even ROK's schoolchildren in primary schools are beginning to learn Chinese. And in China the number of people studying Korean is also on the increase.

The 21st century will be the "century of Asia." But in this century, Asian countries will also have to cooperate and compete with other emerging world powers as a combined force.

It will be difficult for a disintegrated Asia to make itself an equal member of the world's family, which is increasingly made up of regional blocs, such as the European Union.

As two influential countries in Northeast Asia, China and the ROK undoubtedly have an important role to play in pushing forward regional development and promoting common prosperity.

The two countries, China in particular, have achieved remarkable progress in various fields in recent years, although they have their own development strategies and models.

While developing themselves, each of the two countries also looks forward to the development of the other.

Unlike other countries, the ROK is not worried about the development of China. This is because the faster China develops, the more the ROK can benefit.

The two countries should also learn about the successes of each other and strengthen cooperation.

Exchanges between universities can undoubtedly help in this regard.

Society in the 21st century will be a knowledge-based one in which the institutions of higher learning should not only undertake the traditional function of disseminating knowledge, but should also help the transformation of society.

To promote an "Asian Community," China's and the ROK's universities should help create an East Asian value system, a kind of East Asian consciousness or identity, and cultivate senior intellectuals who have regional characteristics.

At the 10th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and the ROK in 2002, a meeting between university presidents of both countries was held in Seoul.

This brought together the heads of China's famous higher-learning institutions, such as Tsinghua University, Fudan University and Remin University of China with their ROK counterparts to discuss cooperative programs aimed at providing talent for the 21st century.

At this meeting, they struck a series of deals on how to strengthen information exchanges through long-distance network education, mutual exchanges of students, and a balanced development between the liberal arts and sciences.

They also reached a consensus on how to develop an East Asian identity and promote common prosperity while learning from the West.

Although there have been close and frequent exchanges between university students of both countries, most of them have been in popular subjects, such as business, economics, hotel management and tourism.

This is a dangerous trend that has yet to be reversed.

If the two countries' young people look upon the other country only from the perceptive of the market, while lacking a knowledge of culture, history, philosophy and law, the pursuit of long-term and common prosperity and peace in Asia will be an unrealistic goal.

Besides learning something from each other that can be immediately transformed to economic benefits, they should also try to learn about each other's cultures to create a common cultural identity that is different from other parts of the world.

To further boost development in the two countries and promote a more powerful Asia, China and the ROK have no reason not to carry out more active exchanges and cooperation between their universities.

(China Daily March 4, 2005)