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.
"With such momentum, China will soon become the biggest education destination country in the Asia and Oceania region."
The students' stay in China is no longer just a cultural experience and has become an important part of their future professional careers, said Cen Jianju, deputy director-general of the ministry's International Exchanges and Co-operation Department.
Sam Gor, a 26-year-old student from Santa Clara, a county near San Francisco, said he was in Beijing to help him find a good job when he returns to the US.
"Culture matters," he said. "But more importantly, to learn Chinese and get a better understanding of the country may help me professionally."
As a new student at Beijing Language and Culture University (BLCU), Gor hopes to find a job in Santa Clara's local government when he goes back home in a year. "I need to learn Chinese if I want the job, as we have a large Chinese community there."
Ministry figures show that language courses are still foreign students' favourite, with 86,679 students or 60 per cent of the total coming to the country to learn Chinese last year.
But economics, law and medicine are also becoming more popular, "especially after China's entry into the World Trade Organization," said Zhang. She said Chinese schools are trying to adjust their curriculum to cater for students who are not in the country to learn languages.
