Queen's University to establish college in China

Queen's University in Belfast is to establish a college in China in partnership with the China Medical University.

The announcement comes as leading Chinese politican Liu Yandong continues her three day visit to Northern Ireland.

The new college will be based in Shenyang and will be formally announced at a ceremony later.

Queen's President Sir Peter Gregson has said it is an exciting opportunity.

The partnership will see some 1000 Chinese students studying for Queen's University Belfast degrees in pharmaceutical science in the new college.

"Today's agreements with Peking University and Chinese Scholarship Council and the announcement of our intention to establish the China Queen's College are a sign of the powerful relationships that Queen's University has built with its Chinese partners and a symbol of the good fortune for Northern Ireland through its strengthened links with an internationally recognised super power," Sir Peter Gregson said.

Elsewhere on Friday, Northern Ireland's only Confucius Institute will be officially opened at the University of Ulster's Jordanstown campus.