Pakistan is ranked third for the number of international students studying in China. Currently, there are 28,023 Pakistani students in the world’s most populated country.
China’s Ministry of Education says South Korea ranks first with 50,600 students. Thailand ranks second with 28,608 students. India has 23,198 students studying in China while 20,996 foreign students in China hail from the US. A total of 492,185 international students have enrolled in Chinese universities this year who belong to 196 countries and regions. The rate is 0.62 percent higher than the previous year.
The official data indicates that China is among the top education destinations for Pakistani students. Majority of these students, around 7,034, have enrolled in Chinese universities on scholarships. One of the factors for the rising number of Pakistani students in China are the preferential policies offered by the Chinese government after the advent of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
Over 6000 Pakistani students are enrolled in Ph.D. programs, 3,600 in Masters degrees, 11,100 in Bachelor’s degrees while 3000 students are pursuing Short Term Exchange Programs across China