09-01-2010 China is dominating the international education market. Students from the Chinese Mainland who study abroad far outnumber those from any other country. And they will continue to grow with greater mobility.
Complicated paperwork and strict financial requirements don't stop Chinese students.
This mobile group of young hopefuls contribute an estimated six billion US dollars in tuition fees to universities around the world.
Yu Minhong, Founder and CEO of New Oriental Group, said, "One reason is that more and more families have the financial ability to support their kids to study abroad. Traditionally speaking, in Chinese people's mind, education in other countries, especially in the western countries, is much better than the education in China."
EIC is a nationwide education agency. It provides one-stop services from consultation and language training, to school and visa applications. Summer vacation is usually the busiest time as students begin applying for next year's fall semester.
Chen Yufei, Marketing Director of EIC Group, Beijing, said, "The US remains the most popular destination, with a year-on-year increase of thirty percent. Canada and UK are also hot choices, with a twenty-five percent increase every year."
According to statistics from the Ministry of Education, two hundred and fifty thousand students went abroad last year.
The experience can often equip them with fluent English and multi-cultural backgrounds, which Chinese employers consider assets. So some think the earlier, the better.
Chen said, "There is a growing trend that students are going abroad at an increasingly young age. But from our observation, eighty to ninety percent of customers go for undergraduate or graduate studies."
Still, some say the lack of university places and fierce competition at home are other reasons that students wave goodbye to their parents.
CCTV reporter Wang Mangmang said, "As more and more parents can afford foreign universities, China is losing some of the country's best students. Some of them return after getting their diplomas, but many don't. Building a world-class university system might be a good way to keep the talents home."
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