Okayama University signed an inter-university agreement with Shaanxi Normal University of China on March 19. Dr. Masaru Araki, vice president of the university, paid a courtesy call on Shaanxi University's president, Fang Yu, and signed a cooperative agreement with its vice president, You Xuqun.
　Shaanxi Normal University is one of six normal universities directly affiliated with the State Educational Ministry of China and is also specified as one of the universities for the state Project 211 started nationwide in China in 2006. It plays a central role in northwest China as an institution fostering mainly secondary and tertiary educators plus school administrators. President Fang visited Okayama University in August 2008, and an interdepartmental cooperative agreement is in place between Shaanxi's College of Chemistry & Materials Science and our own Graduate School of Natural Science and Technology.
　The new inter-university agreement expands the exchanges in the fields of natural sciences to all faculties / schools, and is expected to invigorate exchanges with the social science faculties too. It will also continue to promote interaction of people and ideas to form the basis for joint research, as well as active exchanges of graduate-level students.