2011 Education Expo（在线收听）

These days, more and more Chinese high school graduates going abroad to pursue a college degree. So, foreign institutions are doing all they can to recruit students.

Many schools are attending the annual China Education Expo in Beijing, which opened last weekend. They expect to receive throngs of students and parents to pick up the foreign schools that most suit their budget.

Liumin has the story.

 
The China Education Expo was held at the World Trade Center on Oct. 15th and 16th in Beijing. More than five hundred colleges and institutions from over thirty countries and regions attended, all hoping to lure Chinese students.

Sun Shanxue, a member of the Beijing Municipal Education Commission says,

"This is an opportunity for overseas schools to expand their presence. I hope the market for studying overseas can become more rational. I hope it will allow students to not only consider only the most elite schools as well provide them with more choices."

While hot destinations like the US, Britain, Australia, Canada, France, Germany and Japan each have an exhibition area, countries new to the event such as Argentina, Italy, Denmark, and South Korea also set up booths to draw applicants.

The Australian exhibition area, which in the past has attracted less interested, attracted lots of people this year, because a new policy writes off one year's worth of deposit money for overseas students, which saves each of them 200 thousand Yuan. One exhibitor with the Australian college introduces other policies.

"From now on, IELTS scores are not necessarily needed when they apply for an Australian college or institution. We also add an employment visa, that is to say, if you've got a bachelor or higher degrees in Australia, you can have an employment visa for two to four years."

The US has always been the most desired overseas study destination for Chinese students. At the moment, 137 thousand Chinese students are studying in America, which constitutes 53% of the total Chinese overseas students. What's more, according to an exhibitor with an American university, the spike in the exchange rates of RMB against the US dollar has saved these students lots of money.

"During my last check on the exchange rate it was about 6.38. The yuan is clearly revalued against the dollar. Normally, the tuition for a regular public university is 35 to 40 thousand US dollars a year. Under the latest exchange rate, students will spend 30 thousand yuan less every year."

Driven by the bilateral economical cooperation between China and South American countries, colleges and institutions in these countries are increasingly popular in recent years. And students who plan to study in South American countries are more likely to have a clear career plan.

"Nowadays, China does a lot of trade with South American countries. I often check out the recruitment information on the internet, and I find out that the people who can speak Spanish are in large demand, that is one of the reasons that I'm interested in South American universities."

But one thing the students should keep in mind is that some excellent private colleges in South America are not accredited by the Chinese Ministry of Education. Therefore experts suggest that they should have full knowledge of the college before they decide to go there.

Due to the depressed economy, many western countries have cut the education funding for universities, therefore the colleges and institutions have to increase the number of overseas students in order to make ends meet. But the overseas students have to get a job if they want to stay, which is a big challenge in their sluggish economies.

For CRI, this is Liumin.