Scholarships for a record 11,000 foreign students will be
provided by the Chinese government in 2007.
Vice Minister of Education Zhang Xinsheng said at an event for
foreign exchange students at Peking University on Thursday that the
government attached much importance to student exchanges.
Higher education institutes and cities like Beijing, Shanghai,
Tianjin and Chongqing and the provinces of Yunnan, Hubei and Liaoning would fund scholarships for foreign
students.
"The government and universities will take concrete measures to
improve education quality so as to better serve the increasing
number of foreign students," Zhang said.
He said the number of foreign students had risen rapidly with
China's economic and social development especially after the policy
of reform and opening up was adopted in 1978.
In 2005 China received 140,000 foreign students from 179
countries. "The exchange of students is an important part of
international education cooperation and an important way to make
friends," he said.
He added that the government would enhance international
education exchanges and cooperation and join with other countries
to create a sound and harmonious environment for educational
development.
(Xinhua News Agency December 22, 2006)
