One of the main benefactors is Lucent Technologies (China) which has been providing financial aid to the project to economic dropouts in rural regions return to school for 10 years, said Dr. Chen Yi, chief representative of the firm's Shanghai office.

Lucent had helped establish six Hope network schools in provinces of southwestern Sichuan and eastern Anhui.

More than 500 Hope school headmasters and teachers have received training thanks to the five national training sessions funded by Lucent.

She said Lucent would build six more Hope schools in the next two years, in a bid to help more children in remote rural areas to receive an education.

Lucent is not alone in aiding the project, which has received more than 2 billion US dollars (241 million US dollars) since it was launched by the China Youth Development Foundation in 1989 and helped nearly 2.49 million youngsters finish their education, said an official with the project.

The official Gan Dongyu said that one-third of its money came from overseas, excluding donations by foreign corporations with branches on the mainland.

Since 1994, Motorola China has donated some 24 million yuan (2.89 million US dollars) to the project to build 40 Hope schools in 20 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions.

(Xinhua News Agency December 16, 2002)