BEIJING, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- China and the United States will more vigorously promote cultural exchanges between the two nations and their people, and send more students to each other's country to study, a joint statement said here on Tuesday.

    "The two sides noted the importance of people-to-people and cultural exchanges in fostering closer China-U.S. bilateral relations and therefore agreed in principle to establish a new bilateral mechanism to facilitate these exchanges," the statement said.

    In recent years, the number of students studying in each other's country keeps rising. Currently there are nearly 100,000 Chinese students studying in the United States.

    "The U.S. will receive more Chinese students and facilitate visa issuance for them," the statement said.

    In China, there are about 20,000 American students studying. The United States will launch a new initiative to encourage more American students to study in China. "Over the coming four years, the U.S. will send 100,000 students to China, and the Chinese side welcomed this decision," it said.

    China and the U.S. agreed to expedite negotiations to renew in 2010 a cultural exchange accord, and jointly hold the Second China-U.S. Cultural Forum in the United States at an appropriate time, the statement added.