CHINA announced Saturday a five-year scheme to encourage students from European Union (EU) countries to learn Chinese.

From 2007, the Chinese Government will provide 100 scholarships per year for young students from the EU, said a joint statement released after an EU-China summit in Helsinki on Saturday.

China and the EU recognized that the strengthening of educational cooperation served as the social and cultural foundation for the sustainable development of the EU-China comprehensive strategic partnership, said the statement.

"The two sides will conduct deeper and wider cooperation, jointly discuss the mechanism and priorities for future cooperation, and make an effort to institutionalize such cooperation."

The leaders endorsed cooperation in establishing an EU-China Law School. The relevant departments of the two sides will continue to conduct consultations in this regard with a view to reaching agreement at an early date.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen whose country is holding the EU presidency, and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, vowed to deepen the comprehensive strategic partnership between China and the European Union (EU) at the summit.

Premier Wen Jiabao called on the European side to make correct the political resolution independently for lifting the arms ban against China and granting China full market economy status.

(Xinhua)