Two representatives jointly launch a provincial rural education research center at Huzhou University in Huzhou on Jan 4. [Photo/hz66.com]

The launch ceremony for a provincial rural education research center was held at Huzhou University in Huzhou, East China's Zhejiang province on Jan 4.

The center was built by the university under the guidance of the Zhejiang provincial department of education in a bid to promote the development of rural education.

Moving forward, the center plans to establish a high-end research team which will strive to systematically analyze the history, current situation and developing trends of rural education in the province in order to explore new pathways to cultivate outstanding teachers and improve education quality in rural areas.

Zhang Liqing, president of Huzhou University, said that the university has been focusing on rural education for a number of years, has been cooperating with schools in Ningbo, Jinhua and Huzhou – three prefecture-level cities in the province – and established a research base for rural education and farmer education in 2014.

According to Zhang, the university will build the center into a leader in boosting rural education in the Yangtze River Delta region.