HANGZHOU -- Zhejiang University, a leading Chinese university, signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Yale University Wednesday to launch a joint-degree program.

The program will start in autumn, said Cheng Lei, vice dean of the Life Sciences Institute at Zhejiang University.

Under the program, students can earn a bachelor's degree after three years of study at Zhejiang University and a master's degree from the Yale School of Public Health after two years of study there.

It is important for Yale to work with Chinese universities in talent and scientific research exchanges, said Sten H. Vermund, dean of the Yale School of Public Health.

The two universities will conduct further cooperation in the fields of scientific research, exchange of faculty and students as well as academic conferences.