China provides university-level scholarships to 70 Cambodian students

The Chinese government has awarded annual scholarships to 70 Cambodian students for pursuing their bachelor's, master's and doctorate's degrees in various universities across China, officials said on Monday.

Chinese Ambassador to Cambodia Bu Jianguo and Cambodian Minister of Education, Youth and Sports Hang Chuon Naron jointly delivered the scholarships to the awardees at a ceremony held at the Chinese Embassy in Phnom Penh.

Bu said that excellent relationship between China and Cambodia has encouraged more Cambodian students to choose to continue their studies in China.

"I hope that all of you will pay attention to your studies and after your graduation, you will return to Cambodia and become valuable human resources for national development," she said in a speech to the scholarship recipients.

She also encouraged them to act as a bridge to connect people-to-people relations between the two countries.

According to the ambassador, it is estimated that more than 2,000 Cambodian students have either graduated from or been studying in China.

China offers about 200 scholarships to Cambodian students and officials every year, said Hang Chuon Naron, adding that the scholarships have importantly contributed to the development of human resources in Cambodia.

"I'd like to express profound thanks to the government of the People's Republic of China for granting the scholarships to Cambodian students," he said. "The scholarships clearly reflect China's attention to the development of human resources in Cambodia."

One of the scholarship recipients said that she had a long dream to study abroad and now her dream came true.

"I always have a dream that I will have a chance to study abroad one day, now China has fulfilled my dream," said Sun Sithika, who got the scholarship for a master-level study at the Zhejiang University. "We are really thankful to the Chinese government for providing scholarships to Cambodian students every year." Endit