Foreign students hit record high
By Zhu Zhe (China Daily)
Updated: 2006-06-13 08:44 "With such momentum, China will soon become the biggest education destination
country in the Asia and Oceania region."
The students' stay in China is
no longer just a cultural experience and has become an important part of their
future professional careers, said Cen Jianju, deputy director-general of the
ministry's International Exchanges and Co-operation Department.
Sam Gor,
a 26-year-old student from Santa Clara, a county near San Francisco, said he was
in Beijing to help him find a good job when he returns to the
US.
"Culture matters," he said. "But more importantly, to learn Chinese
and get a better understanding of the country may help me
professionally."
As a new student at Beijing Language and Culture
University (BLCU), Gor hopes to find a job in Santa Clara's local government
when he goes back home in a year. "I need to learn Chinese if I want the job, as
we have a large Chinese community there."
Ministry figures show that
language courses are still foreign students' favourite, with 86,679
students or 60 per cent of the total coming to the country to learn
Chinese last year.
But economics, law and medicine are also becoming more
popular, "especially after China's entry into the World Trade Organization,"
said Zhang. She said Chinese schools are trying to adjust their curriculum to
cater for students who are not in the country to learn
languages.
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