PHNOM PENH, Aug. 8 -- The Chinese government has granted annual scholarships to 72 Cambodian students to pursue their bachelor's, master's, and doctorate's degrees in various universities in China.

Chinese Ambassador to Cambodia Bu Jianguo delivered the scholarships to them on Friday in the presence of Cambodian Education Secretary of State Yuok Ngoy.

Those awardees will study in the majors of economics, commerce, information and communication technologies, engineering, agriculture, political science, international relations, and law.

The Chinese Ambassador said China has always paid attention to assisting Cambodia in human resources development, which is a key element for socio-economic development.

"China averagely provides 70 scholarships to Cambodian students a year," she said, adding that "I'm confident that the awardees will be valuable human resources for Cambodia when they graduate their studies."

Yuok Ngoy said that since 1998, China has provided 557 scholarships to Cambodian students and officials to pursue their higher education in China.

"I'd like to express profound thanks to China for granting the scholarships, which are essential to develop human resources for Cambodia," he said. "The scholarships clearly show China's attention to developing education sector in Cambodia."