OREANDA-NEWS. August 03, 2011. Agricultural Bank of China Limited (ABC) and Cambridge Overseas Trust (COT) signed a scholarship MOU in Beijing. Mr. Sebastian Wood, Britain's Ambassador to China, and Mr. Xiang Junbo, Chairman of ABC, witnessed and addressed the signing ceremony, while, Mr. Pan Gongsheng, Executive Vice President of ABC, and Mr. Michael O'Sullivan, Director of COT, signed the MOU on behalf of ABC and COT respectively. Mr. Patrick Horgan, Education Counsellor with the Cultural and Education Section of the British Embassy, also attended the ceremony, reported the press-centre of ABC.

According to the MOU, ABC and COT, will jointly sponsor up to 10 outstanding Chinese students with financial difficulties to pursue one-year courses of master degrees at the University of Cambridge for 3 consecutive years since 2012. The scholarship is named "Agricultural Bank of China Cambridge Scholarship", earmarked for the tuition fee, college fee and stipend of selected Chinese students while they are studying at Cambridge.

It is said that this program is only applicable to the Chinese students who have gained admission to the University of Cambridge. Candidates must apply to Cambridge before December 1st in the year prior to that in which they wish to start their courses. And they are required to provide documentation to show that they have qualified for State Grant Support on economic grounds when they are undergraduate students in China. In the event that there is a surplus of qualified candidates fulfilling the required criteria, priority will be given to candidates normally resident in Western China and in ethnic minority autonomous regions [defined on the basis of household registration]. The final list of scholars will be confirmed jointly by ABC and COT.

As Mr. Ambassador Sebastian Wood addressed the occasion that the objective of COT was to open Cambridge education opportunities to outstanding students from countries outside the EU and the Commonwealth, regardless of their social and economic backgrounds. As a host to Xu Zhimo, Joseph Needham and 750 Chinese students every year, the University of Cambridge, as well as COT, provides scholarships to many Chinese students to facilitate their academic pursuit. Mr. Michael O'Sullivan, Director of COT and former Education Counsellor with Cultural and Education Section of the British Embassy to China, values Cambridge's association with China very much. Now, thanks to ABC, more Chinese achievers from under-developed areas can have the opportunity to access to Cambridge for further study. As he pointed out that this scholarship program was an outstanding example for the mutual-beneficial cooperation between the UK and China, an embodiment of the campaign of equal educational opportunities prioritized by the two governments.

As Chairman Xiang Junbo addressed in his speech that, this scholarship was jointly established by ABC and COT to develop high-end Chinese talents by opening opportunities to Chinese achievers for further study at Cambridge, also an important initiative for the two sides to fulfill their respective social responsibilities. ABC is committed to joining COT in sponsoring up to 10 outstanding Chinese students, with priority to those from Western China and ethnic minority autonomous regions, and will vigorously facilitate the program's administration in China. Responsibilities shall be taken, and efforts shall be made to benefit the general public. With this faith, ABC is actively dedicated to a series of public welfare campaigns, including educational activities.

Present at the signing ceremony are over 40 attendees from British Embassy, Cultural and Education Section of the British Embassy, domestic and foreign media, and relevant departments of ABC head office.