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Students more prudent in rush to go abroad
In 2003, about 123,000 students went overseas for further education, whereas the number dropped to 115,000 last year, according to Cai Junjie, a department manager at Beijing JJL, a leading overseas education consultancy in China. "It's likely we will see another drop this year," Cai said. "It's important for students to make clear their aims before going abroad. Fortunately, more and more students have realized that and given careful thought to studying overseas," Cai said. According to the department manager, the United States is still the first choice for Chinese students looking to pursue their studies abroad, followed by Britain, Canada and Australia. Because of its more favourable visa policies this year, the US Embassy in China saw an increase in the number of visa applications in the first six months of 2005. However, for many other countries, things were just the opposite. "The number of applicants we've had so far is slightly down compared to the same period of last year," said Nick Davison, a visa officer with the British Embassy in Beijing. "It's not only Britain. As far as I know, many other countries except the United States have witnessed a slight decrease in the number of applications." Song Lijun, director of the international exchange and co-operation office of the Beijing Municipal Education Commission, considers this decrease a sign of China's maturing education market. "It's natural. Because of the college expansion plan,
higher education is now more available in China," Song said.
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