Japan's Grassroots Ground Aid will donate 73,831 US dollars to a center raising crested ibis in Yangxian County in northwest China's Shaanxi Province, according to an agreement signed between the two sides at the Japanese embassy January 21.

The money will be used to build 300 square meters of breeding rooms for the birds and a publicity and education hall at the center, according to the agreement.

The crested ibis is an extremely endangered species, said an expert in this field, adding that there are only about 200 of them left, mostly in China and Japan.

Yangxian County and its nearby areas are home to a large proportion of the crested ibis family, said Wang Shousen, vice-governor of the Shaanxi provincial government.

There are over 90 wild crested ibises in the province and 75 raised at the center, according to Wang.

China and Japan have been cooperating to protect the crested ibis in recent years, and China presented a pair of the birds to Japan during Chinese President Jiang Zemin's visit to Japan in 1998. The couple produced offspring last May, which aroused great interest in Japan.

Nobuyuki Sugimoto, minister of the Japanese embassy in Beijing, expressed the hope that the implementation of the program will become a new opportunity for the Chinese and Japanese peoples to strengthen their friendship.

Japan's Grassroots Ground Aid, which has been cooperating with China for more than ten years, grants free aid and support for selected programs in the fields of culture, education, and health protection to underdeveloped countries and regions.