13000 Indians studied in China last year

More than 13,000 Indians studied in China in 2015. Overall, more than four lakh foreign students pursued education in China last year, an increase of 50 per cent compared to 2010. Courses in higher education registered an increase of 17.5% from 2010, as access to higher education expanded constantly. Education Minister Chen Baosheng told this to legislators during the ongoing bimonthly session of the National People's Congress (NPC).

About 36.47 million overseas students studied higher education in the country. The Chinese universities and colleges attracted nearly 4 lakh overseas students from 202 countries and regions last year, a 50 per cent surge from 2010, he said.

This included around 13,000 students from India. Over 8000 Indian students study medicine in Chinese colleges, according to Indian officials.

The gross enrollments ratio for higher education, a gauge for education opportunities, was 40 per cent in 2015, 13.5 percentage points higher than in 2010, exceeding the average level of medium-to-high income countries, Chen said, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

During the 12th Five-Year Plan period (2011-2015), over 45 per cent of the new work force had received higher education, Chen said in his report to the NPC.

Surprisingly, in the Reuters Top 75: Asia's Most Innovative Universities, a list that identifies the educational institutions that are doing the most to advance science, invent new technologies and help drive the global economy, Chinese Universities comes no close to the top 20 universities. In fact, most of the high ranking universities are based in Japan (17) and South Korea.

The highest ranked university in China is Tsinghua University (rank 13), a public research university based in Beijing.

- PTI