Foreign universities vie for Chinese students

Xi'an (CNS) -- The Xi'an station of the 17th China International Education Exhibition Tour (CIEET) has attracted more than 50 universities and institutes from over a dozen countries, all lured by the market potential of China.

Delegations from the UK and the US have amounted to nearly half of all foreign participants.

In 2011, 339,700 Chinese went abroad for further study, 314,800 of whom were self-funded, according to official statistics.

The market lure of China is comprised of more than 20 million college students, with roughly 10 million entering universities every year through the "gaokao," or national college entrance exam, according to Che Weimin, head of international cooperation at the Chinese Service Centre for Scholarly Exchange.

The 17th CIEET will conclude on March 25.