(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-03-07 19:38

BEIJING -- The number of students from Taiwan enrolled in colleges and universities on the Chinese mainland has exceeded 7,200 since 2004, a marked rise from previous years, statistics showed.

More than 2,200 Taiwan students went to college in the mainland in 2007, while they numbered 2,307 in 2006, more than 1,000 in 2005, and 1,777 in 2004.

Mainland colleges began to enroll the students from Taiwan in 1985.

From 1985 to 2000, mainland colleges had admitted 2,895 undergraduates and 864 postgraduates from Taiwan. They enrolled 2,875 undergraduates and 2,766 postgraduates between 2001 and 2004.

China has adopted a set of new policies of giving Taiwan students the same national treatment as mainland students in recent years to attract them to study in mainland higher learning institutions.

Students from Taiwan studying at universities on the Chinese mainland began to pay the same tuition and boarding fees as their mainland peers from September 2005.

They have also benefited from a scholarship fund that distributes 7 million yuan (around 979,000 US dollars) each year.

The mainland education authority announced in April last year that it welcomed Taiwan universities to recruit students in the mainland. It has also acknowledged the diploma granted by Taiwan universities.