2,500 new Pakistani students enrolled in Chinese universities this year

BEIJING: Approximately 2,500 new Pakistani students were enrolled in Chinese universities this year, taking the total number of Pakistani students in China to 22,000, according to a senior official of the Pakistani Embassy. 

With such a large number of students from Pakistan studying at Chinese universities, China has now become the largest foreign destination for Pakistani students, he told APP here.

Out of the total number of Pakistani students, 3,000 are completing their PhD degrees while others are studying engineering, economic, management, agriculture, medicine, information technology, communication and languages.

According to experts, these students, who secured their admissions under scholarships, are representing Pakistani society in China and are fast becoming a source of enhancing cultural exchanges and people to people contacts between the two countries.

Chinese universities are rising quickly in the list of Asia’s best universities, with Peking University becoming the second best institution in Asia.

In total, 45 Chinese mainland universities have made it to Asia’s top 300, while six are from Hong Kong and 25 from Taiwan.

“As the Chinese universities strictly follow rules and regulations, it would benefit our students,” the official added.

A student studying at the Beijing Language and Culture University told APP that she hopes to get employment in projects being completed under China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a flagship project of the Belt and Road Initiative, after finishing her degree.

According to statistics released by the Chinese Ministry of Education, more than 200,000 students from 64 countries along the Belt and Road Initiative were studying in China last year.

The number of students studying in China from countries along the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road has increased greatly under a series of preferential policies, education officials said.

Such a growth rate exceeds that of China’s international students as a whole, said Xu Tao, director of the ministry’s department of international cooperation and exchange, as more than 440,000 students from 205 countries and regions were studying in China last year.

“A series of preferential policies drafted by the Chinese government for students from these countries have contributed to the remarkable rise in their numbers, including offering 10,000 places each year for students from countries along the Belt and Road Initiative to study in China under the support of the Chinese Government Scholarship,” Xu said.