A Sino-British forum on  development and reform of higher education opened Monday in this  capital of east China's Shandong Province.

   Nearly 30 university presidents from Britain and China,  including Shandong University and the Britain Open University, as  well as educational officials took part in the conference.

   The major topics of the forum, which is jointly sponsored by  the Ministry of Education, the British Embassy in China and  Shandong University, cover discussions on the reform of the world  university system and globalization of higher education.

   "It is a great chance to learn to push forward reform on higher education, which may accelerate the progress of globalization of  the country's universities," said Chen Chuanhong, president of  Xiamen University in east China's Fujian Province.

   Geoff Peters, president of the British Open University, said  that the university has 200,000 students all over Europe studying  via the Internet or other long-distance education facilities.

   The Internet will help universities worldwide join hands to  further develop higher education in the new century, the  presidents agreed.