The program deal was signed Friday by the Ministry of Education, the China Scholarship Council (CSC) and the education authorities of the western provinces of Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan, and Chongqing Municipality and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps.

In 1996, China reformed its system of selecting candidates to study abroad with public funds, but western areas lagged behind central and eastern areas in candidate numbers, at one fifth of the total.

Under the deal, the central and provincial government will pay for the expenses for overseas study, with the provincial government providing 50 percent of the amount at most.

Meanwhile, local education authorities will have more say in a joint review panel of experts from both localities and the CSC over the number of candidates and their branches of learning.

(Xinhua News Agency September 21, 2002)