By May 2017, there were 2,914 colleges and universities, with over 20 million students enrolled in mainland China, and 156 colleges in the ROC free area. More than 6 million Chinese students graduated from university in 2008. The "Project 211" for creating 100 national universities began in the mid-1990s, and has merged more than 700 institutions of higher learning into about 300 universities. Corresponding with the merging of many public universities, has been the rapid expansion of the private sector in mainland China since 1999. Although private university enrollments are not clear, one report listed that in 2006 private universities accounted for around 6 percent, or about 1.3 million, of the 20 million students enrolled in formal higher education in China. The quality of universities and higher education in China is internationally recognized as China has established educational cooperation and exchanges with 188 countries and regions and 46 major international organizations, and signed agreements with 54 countries such as the US, British, Australia and Germany on mutual recognition of higher education qualifications and academic degrees.