Chinese Minister of Education Chen Baosheng (R) and his Ukrainian counterpart Liliya Grynevych attend the 2nd meeting of the subcommittee on education cooperation of the Chinese-Ukrainian intergovernmental commission in Kiev, Ukraine, on June 23, 2017. (Xinhua/Chen Junfeng)

KIEV, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Ukrainian Education and Science Minister Liliya Grynevych on Friday spoke highly of Ukraine's cooperation with China in science and education sector.

In an exclusive interview with Xinhua, Grynevych said that the visit of Chinese Minister of Education Chen Baosheng to Ukraine in June 2017 has opened a new chapter in the bilateral cooperation.

"We have greatly expanded cooperation between our universities thanks to the agreements that were signed during this visit. Also, our cooperation is now accompanied by an increase in the number of joint research projects -- we are conducting nine major research projects," Grynevych told Xinhua after a solemn ceremony to celebrate the Day of Science in Ukraine.

At the ceremony, Grynevych has awarded Chinese Ambassador to Ukraine Du Wei with an appreciation award of the Ukrainian Education and Science Ministry for his contribution in the development of scientific cooperation between the two countries.

One of the key milestones of that cooperation was the China-Ukraine Science, Technology and Innovation Exhibition held in Kiev in November 2017, Grynevych said.

"It was a very interesting joint Ukrainian-Chinese innovation exhibition. For us, China is a very interesting country as it is developing rapidly in the field of innovations. Our scientific and technical cooperation with China has great prospects," she added.

Commenting on the educational cooperation between the two countries, Grynevych spoke highly of China's contribution to the development of school education in Ukraine.

"It is important and noteworthy that China has provided a significant humanitarian assistance in the form of 23,000 computers for the schools in Ukraine," the minister said.

Ukraine, for its part, is opening its doors for more and more Chinese students, who are willing to study in the Ukrainian universities, she said.

While speaking on the plans for the future, Grynevych stressed that China and Ukraine have an array of promising projects in science and education sector.

"We have a large list of joint projects, which covers several pages. First of all, we are striving to work at the level of universities, institutes, and research institutes," Grynevych said.

Besides, Ukraine is interested in working with Chinese partners within the international scientific and educational projects, she added.