The Ministry of Education (MOE) on Thursday announced that the
government would send 12,000 Chinese students to study overseas in
2008, including 6,000 postgraduates.
Most of the students receiving government scholarships will
study fields such as energy, resources, environment, agriculture,
manufacturing, life sciences, space technology, oceanography, new
materials, humanities and applied social sciences, said an MOE
spokesman.
By the end of September, the government had funded a total of
34,742 Chinese to study overseas, and 97.5 percent of the 28,230
that should have returned, did so on schedule, statistics show.
The government funded about 10,000 students to study overseas in
2007, including 5,000 postgraduates.
More than 130,000 Chinese went abroad for further study in 2006,
including students funded by the government and those
self-financed.
(Xinhua News Agency December 14, 2007)