BEIJING - Enthusiasm from Southeast Asian universities is unique at this year's education expo.

The Malaysian embassy in China is represented by the largest group among all the international exhibitors: 12 universities. Though this was not their first time at the expo, it was definitely the most remarkable one.

The Chinese and Malaysian governments reached agreements on frameworks to facilitate mutual recognition of higher education qualifications during Premier Wen Jiabao's visit to Malaysia in late April.

"The number of Chinese students in Malaysia reached a historic peak of 10,000 in 2010. And we are expecting more after the agreements," said Wong Chong Way, education attache at the embassy.

Chaowanee Tangwongprasert, first secretary of the Royal Thai embassy, told China Daily that the number of Chinese students in Thailand was almost 8,000 last year, and 90 percent of them were undergraduate students.

The enrollment figure had doubled in five years, she said. "Most of the Chinese students come from the southern part of China. We hope to attract more from the northern part by hiring more staff who can speak Chinese."

It was the first time for staff members of Cebu Doctors' University to attend the education expo in China.

The Philippine university holds a high reputation among Japanese and Korean students for its language school. But Lee Jun-ho, general manager of the register's office in Asia, hopes to reduce the ratio of Korean students in the school and recruit more Chinese.

"We see the great demand for Chinese students in learning English and studying abroad. And Southeast Asian countries are good springboards for the students," he said.

"Students can polish their English here with less money and shorter time, which helps to fulfill the dream of studying abroad for kids from middle-income families."

More Chinese parents aim to send their teenage kids abroad for undergraduate study, prompting the Beijing International Education Expo 2011 to draw crowds of parents and students on Friday, opening day. The expo continues through Sunday at the China International Exhibition Center.

The United States and the United Kingdom are still among the hottest choices this year.

According to figures from the British embassy, more than 90,000 Chinese students are studying in the UK. The UK Border Agency issued more than 44,000 student visas last year, 26 percent more than the previous year.

Since 2007, many universities from the US and the UK have been consolidating their market on the Chinese mainland by setting up preparatory courses.

"We attach great importance to Chinese students who study in Britain," British Ambassador Sebastian Wood told China Daily on Friday.

Manchester Metropolitan University, the second largest university in the UK, has opened preparatory course classes in about 15 cities in China over the past four years.

"The Chinese parents love the idea, which saves them money and also keeps their kids close to them," said Dennis Tang, China office manager for the university.

"Resources in Chinese universities have been diluted by the increased enrollment in recent years, even for the top universities," said a 44-year-old woman who provided only her surname, Lu.

Her daughter attends 11th grade in an international class of the middle school affiliated with Renmin University of China.

"My husband and I have been determined to pave her way up to the top business school in London ever since she finished junior high school," Lu said. "The money has been set ready for her for the three-year undergraduate study, about 300,000 yuan a year ($46,343)."

China Daily

(China Daily 06/18/2011 page4)