Malta has sealed cooperation pledges with multiple Chinese universities, the Education Ministry said in a statement on Saturday.

The deals, which will see MCAST strengthen ties with various China-based educational institutes, were signed during an official visit of Education and Sports Minister Clifton Grima to China.

Grima also signed two other agreements with the Chinese government that pledge to develop student exchanges, scholarships and research collaboration for education technologies between the two countries.

The minister was accompanied by a delegation made up of Education Malta chairman Charles Zammit and MCAST deputy principal Stephen Vella.

 The delegation was accompanied by Malta’s ambassador to China John Busuttil during meetings held in the Chinese capital Beijing, and consult Lisa-Marie Azzopardi during meetings held in Shanghai.

Minister Grima met China’s deputy minister for education, Chen Jie, and also addressed academics and students of the Beijing Foreign Studies University after being given a tour by university president Jia Wenjian, the ministry said.

He also met with top officials of Beijing Sports University and its adjacent Institute of Sport and Health Science.

The delegation also visited the University of Political Science and Law in Shanghai, where it met university chancellor Ge Weihua and president Liu Xiaohang and signing a memorandum of understanding.

MCAST representative Ellul signed seven separate agreements during the visit, including ones with the Jiangsu Vocational College of Medicine; Guandong Business and Technology University; South China Normal University; Guangxi University of Science and Technology; Beijing Institute of Technology; Jinzhou Medical University and Beijing Ploytechnic.