China and Japan will jointly offer 166 million yen (about 13 million RMB yuan) for a training program for Chinese government administrators. 

Yi Xiaozhun, China's assistant minister of commerce, and Koreshige Anami, Japanese ambassador to China, exchanged official documents concerning the "Human Resources Development Scholarship" program in Beijing Thursday.

The training targets of the program are Chinese government officials. Since the program was first launched in September 2002, China has dispatched 40 officials to Japan for training.

On June 24, 2003, China and Japan jointly added 93 million yen to the program, and under the new agreement both sides will put another 166 million yen into the program.

The program will play a positive role in raising the professional level of Chinese government administrators, and promoting communication and understanding between the two countries, said an official from the Chinese Ministry of Commerce.

(Xinhua News Agency January 9, 2004)