SHANGHAI: A new partnership between China Daily and Fudan University hopes to foster young journalistic talent in China.

The joint program between the country's English-language national daily and one of the city's top universities will offer aspiring journalists the chance to develop their skills and gain practical job experience through competitive China Daily internships. Students will also have the chance to land permanent jobs with the newspaper upon completion of their internships.

Wang Hao, China Daily board member (R) and Cai Dafeng, deputy head of Fudan University exchange contracts during the signing ceremony.

"I hope this new project will attract more fresh talent and strengthen our news teams at China Daily, at both our branches at home and abroad," said Wang Hao, China Daily board member. "If students make it into our talent pool, they will be trained to work in print and online news, and may even have experts help them find suitable jobs after they complete the internship."

China Daily will also provide journalism with professional guidance and access to various journalism-related courses and seminars. English majors or European-language majors will also be considered as the newspaper plans to expand its offices to Europe in the future.

Formally inking the contract between both parties at a signing ceremony on Tuesday at Fudan University, Cai Dafeng, deputy head of Fudan University, said the invaluable partnership will not only give students the opportunity to gain real world experience, but also help encourage those wanting to serve Chinese media in the future. Similar sentiments were echoed by Yu Zhenwei, an associate professor with the university's Journalism School.

"During the internship students can build upon what they have learned in the classroom by putting those skills into practice, or even learn things that cannot be learned in class," said Yu. "It is also a good opportunity for them to gain knowledge of future professions that suit their professional talents."

The program officially gets underway in May, when the first round of recruitment opens for 2009. More details will be released closer to date on the China Daily website. For more information, please log on http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/