Beijing

The Chinese ministry of education plans to cut the number of higher education institutions by 10 per cent through mergers by 2003. If everything goes according to plan there will be about 1,800 universities, colleges and adult education institutions in the country, said vice-minister Zhou Yuanqing.

Florence

The European University Institute in Fiesole has published an "Appeal For Europe" following a two-day conference on Europe's future. The document calls on Europeans to "reaffirm imaginatively the generous ideals which animated the creation of postwar Europe". The text can be found at www.iue.it