A new educational partnership between China and the United Kingdom was unveiled on Monday, as the two countries gear up to further strengthen higher educational links, despite disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The new partnership, signed between Chengdu University in China and the University of Stirling in Scotland, enables Chinese students to study for bachelor degrees in sport studies, data science and digital media, awarded from both universities.

Graduates will receive two degrees－one from Stirling and one from Chengdu－at the end of their four years of study, providing they fulfil the academic requirements for each institution.

The students will also be offered the option to pursue study at Stirling, both as part of their undergraduate program or for a postgraduate program, once circumstances allow.

Welcoming the partnership, Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Stirling, Gerry McCormac, said: "The University of Stirling is ... driven to build global partnerships with like-minded institutions across the world.

"We have strong links with China, including existing relationships with the University of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and Hebei Normal University, and I am incredibly proud that we're able to add the prestigious Chengdu University to that list," he said.

He said he believes Chengdu and Stirling share values of excellence and innovation, and a belief that international education and collaboration can help build a better world.

"With our combined strengths, I know this partnership will go on to achieve great things, not only for our students and staff, but for communities and societies across the globe, he added.

The two universities share a passion for sport, and the data science and media degrees will both contain sports-related content, with elements of interdisciplinarity across all three degrees.

Stirling was named UK Sports University of the Year 2020, and recently six of its current students completed in the delayed 2020 Tokyo Games, with two winning gold medals.

The city of Chengdu and its wider region is well known for leisure sports, and Chengdu University is a hosting partner of the 31st International University Sports Federation World University Games next year.

Almost 900 Chinese students are currently studying at the University of Stirling, which counts 4,500 Chinese graduates among its near-100,000 alumni, across 120 countries.

Chengdu is home to the Chengdu Panda Base, which has bred the largest population of captive giant pandas in the world. The city was the first designated UNESCO City of Gastronomy in Asia, and is also famous for its opera and association with two famous Chinese poets, Li Bai and Du Fu.