Twenty-seven people from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Russia have become the first to receive training in the application of information network technologies from China.

They included government information industry officials, academic researchers and entrepreneurs, said Nie Zhiqiang, a senior official with the Science and Technology Intelligence Institute of Xinjiang Autonomous Regional Bureau of Science and Technology.

The course in Urumqi, capital of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, is funded by the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology, and covers network engineering, database design and software development technology, applied computer science, operating systems with Russian versions, as well as applied technologies for servers.

Trainees will also have a chance to converse face to face with experts from Chinese IT companies, including Lenovo.

"I think the training will help expand China's cooperation with Russia and Central Asia in the field of information network technology, and advance China's exports of IT and products and help Chinese computer network products find markets in Russia and Central Asia," said Nie.

The training workshop will end on June 11.

(Xinhua News Agency June 4, 2007)