The 50th primary school built with funds donated by the Coca Cola Company recently opened in a the city of Shangzhou in northwest China's Shaanxi Province.

The primary school was built as part of an agreement with China 's Project Hope announced by the Company's late president Kuo Sida in 1994.

Project Hope, which encourages private donations to develop and promote education in China's rural areas, has raised a 1.6 billion yuan in funds, assisted more than 2.2 million primary school dropouts and established over 7,500 Hope primary schools since it started in October, 1989, said an official of the China Youth Development Foundation.

Coca Cola has donated 20 million yuan (2.4 million US dollars) for China's Project Hope in the past five years. The funds have been used to build 50 hope primary schools and 100 libraries found in poverty-stricken areas all over China.

Xu Yongguang, secretary-general of the China Youth Development Foundation, said, "Coca Cola is one of the most significant overseas supporters for Project Hope in China. It took an exemplary role in every key stage of the project's development." (Xinhua)