With a rapidly growing economy and unique culture, China is becoming one of the world's major education and employment destinations.

Last year saw the largest number of overseas students coming to China since 1949  about 141,000, up 27.28 per cent from the previous year, figures from the Ministry of Education show.

South Korea and Japan are listed as the top two student exporters to China, with 54,079 and 18,874 students studying here respectively.

"The increase shows that China's growing economy and ancient culture has gained world recognition," said Zhang Xiuqin, secretary-general of the China Scholarship Council, an institution in charge of the organization, management and funding of international students in China.

The residential environment, education quality, medical and social insurance provided by Chinese higher learning institutes also attract many overseas students, she said, adding that the low tuition fees are also a big draw.

Once the director of the ministry's foreign students affairs department, Zhang was glad to see the growth in the number of overseas students in China during the past 20 years.

China's first group of 33 foreign students came from Eastern Europe in 1950, but the numbers did not begin to rise until the nation's opening-up in the early 1980s.
"Today, we have students from more than 160 countries," said Zhang.

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