Wilfred Gabsa Nyongbet, Secretary General of Cameroon's Ministry of Higher Education, speaks during a farewell ceremony in Yaounde, Cameroon, Aug. 14, 2019. Wilfred Gabsa Nyongbet on Wednesday hailed as "excellent" the cooperation with China in higher education. Nyongbet made the remarks during a ceremony to bid farewell to 128 Cameroonian students who will study in China with scholarships. (Photo by Jean Pierre Kepseu/Xinhua)

YAOUNDE, Aug. 14 (Xinhua) -- Wilfred Gabsa Nyongbet, Secretary General of Cameroon's Ministry of Higher Education, on Wednesday hailed as "excellent" the cooperation with China in higher education.

Nyongbet made the remarks during a ceremony to bid farewell to 128 Cameroonian students who will study in China with scholarships. "This is a true demonstration of the excellent bilateral friendship between our two countries," he said.

"They are going to learn the type of technology that we need for the emergence of Cameroon... We are willing to continue the collaboration in the higher education sector," Nyongbet added.

Among the 128 students, 45 benefit from the Chinese government scholarship, 83 from the Confucius Institute scholarship.

Speaking at the ceremony, Chinese ambassador Wang Yingwu said the number of Chinese scholarships awarded to Cameroon students in 2019 hit a record high since 2006. "China is ready to work with Cameroon to enhance cooperation in education to a higher level," he said.

"China is advanced in technological sectors, and there is a transfer of know-how in its cooperation with Cameroon. The scholarship is an opportunity for me to study in China, and apply what I have learned back home," a scholarship winner Francis Yonkeu Nya told Xinhua.

More than 3,000 Cameroonian students are now studying in China, among them about 300 are beneficiaries of Chinese government scholarship, according to the Chinese embassy to Cameroon.