BEIJING - Russian educational authorities will make extra efforts to welcome Chinese students and push forward Sino-Russian cooperation in the field of education, a Russian diplomat said on Saturday.

Yevgeniy Tomikhin, a diplomat with the Russian Embassy in China, made the comments at a two-day international education exhibition, which was held in Beijing and attended by more than 40 Russian institutions of higher education.

"There will be promising cooperation prospects between China and Russia as educational exchange has become an important part of China-Russia people-to-people and cultural exchanges," Tomikhin added.

According to a joint communique issued by the two sides during Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev's official visit in China last week, the two nations will target sending 50,000 students to study in each other's country by 2020.

"Our booth area has been expanded from 80 square meters in 2011 to more than 200 square meters in 2013, which demonstrated that Russian institutions of higher education have become more and more popular among Chinese students," said Olga Filonova, an official in charge of Russia's exhibition.

Currently there are 15,000 Russian students studying in China, and 25,000 Chinese students studying in Russia.

Experts estimated the number of Chinese students studying overseas will total 450,000 in 2013.