Since the opening-up of overseas study 30 years ago, a total of 1.36 million Chinese students have studied abroad. Of these students, 370,000 returned to China after completing their studies. This has established a base that enables the Chinese nation to become more prosperous and more open to the world. Li Kexin, curator of the Foreign-educated Chinese Museum, recently said in an interview.
Li revealed that the drastic raise in the number of people studying abroad over the past 30 years has continued with unprecedented scale and has had an enormous influence. During 130 years from 1847 to 1978, a total of just 140,000 Chinese people went to study abroad. In contrast, over the past 30 years since the opening-up of overseas study, the number of foreign-educated Chinese has increased 12 times. Presently, Chinese students can be found studying in 109 countries and regions across the world.
Li believes that China's policy to encourage students to study abroad and return to China after completion of their courses has greatly appealed to students studying abroad. In recent years, the number of students returning from abroad has maintained an annual growth rate of over 13%. Gradually, these students have become one of the major driving forces behind the development of China. To date, around 80% of the presidents of universities under the direct administration of the Ministry of Education, 81% of the academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering, 95% of the “Yangtze River Scholars,” and about 80% of the chief scientists of the National 863 Program have overseas education. In addition, more and more students have been returning to China to start their own businesses. In Shanghai, students returning from abroad have founded over 3,800 enterprises with a total investment of nearly 500 million yuan.
"The practice of reform and opening-up over the past 30 years proves that overseas study is an effective channel for China to get closer to the rest of the world, and is something that will play an important role in revitalizing the Chinese nation,” Li said.
By People's Daily Online
|
Comment
Tell A Friend
Print Format
Save Article