BEIJING – The University of Georgia and Tsinghua University, China's premier institute for science and technology, agreed to increase cooperative research and educational exchanges on Thursday, in the latest initiative by Georgia schools to grow ties with China.

UGA Provost Arnett Mace, Gov. Sonny Perdue and Tsinghua Vice President Xie Weihe signed a deal to allow UGA students and faculty to study and research at Tsinghua, a school of 27,000 students in northern Beijing, and for Chinese students to study in Georgia.

Craig Simons/Cox News Service (ENLARGE)

Gov. Sonny Perdue, Tsinghua University Vice President Xie Weihe and University of Georgia Provost Arnett Mace (right) shake hands after signing an agreement on Thursday to increase cooperative research and educational exchanges between the schools.

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"This partnership with China's most prestigious university builds on Georgia's many educational ties with China, and opens new frontiers for Georgia students," Perdue said. "By creating international educational opportunities for our students we are preparing them to enter the global economy and to contribute to Georgia's outstanding intellectual capital."

The event was part of Perdue's first visit to China and highlighted state efforts to increase links with China, the world's fastest-growing economy. On Wednesday, Perdue officially opened a state economic development office in Beijing that will work to boost trade between Georgia and China, currently the state's third-largest export market.

Georgia schools have responded to rising demand for graduates able to speak Chinese and who understand Chinese culture by signing dozens of similar initiatives.

UGA currently has "about 11" cooperation agreements with Chinese universities including a program with Tsinghua's law school to offer summer classes and a relationship with Chinese government institutes to provide mid-career training classes to Chinese administrators.

The partnership signed on Thursday at Tsinghua, a sprawling campus founded by Jesuit missionaries in 1911, will lead to concrete programs within a year, said Mace, who is also UGA's Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs.

More than 120 UGA students are currently studying in China and enrollment in Chinese culture and language classes has surged, he said.

Demand for collaboration with China "is increasing almost exponentially across the university," Mace said.

"The faculty and students have a very keen interest in China."