Center

Students overseas to double

By Zhu Zhe (China Daily)
Updated: 2006-10-17 08:45

"We hope that in 2020 the number of foreigners studying Chinese can be twice the existing 30 million," he said on Sunday at the 25th anniversary celebration of China Education Association for International Exchange (CEAIE) in Beijing.

Instead of going abroad for graduate studies, more Chinese students are opting to go to foreign universities for undergraduate studies, experts said.

"It can be foreseen that the number of students taking undergraduate courses overseas will steadily increase, "said Zong Wa, director of China Centre for International Educational Exchange under the CEAIE.

Cai Minzhi, a school student in Beijing who was visiting the 2006 China Education Expo over the weekend, said she wants to go to the United States to study after she graduates from middle school next year.

"Compared with Chinese universities, foreign schools can provide better education," her father Cai Lin said, adding that with a growing household income, the family are able to afford the tuition.

"What we value is not the diploma, but the experience of studying and living abroad," he said.