I confirm that I am over 16 years old and I am happy to receive newsletters and up-to-date information about Top Universities, Top MBA and QS Leap. I understand that my data will be held for as long as I am registered with the site and I will continue to receive such communications until I amend my user profile. In 2012, China reached its target of spending 4 percent of GDP on education, while the number of colleges and universities has doubled in the last decade, now standing at around 2,900. Project 985 has resulted in the creation of the C9 league, which has ambitions of becoming something like the US Ivy League. Want to be one of the many international students heading to China every year? Read on to find out more. With the latest figures showing that nearly 490,000 international students were enrolled in Chinese universities in 2017 10 percent more than in 2016 , China seems certain of meeting its target of hosting 500,000 foreign students by 2020. Leading sending countries include South Korea, Thailand, Pakistan, the United States, India, Russia, Japan and Indonesia. For a selection of these scholarship opportunities, see. Another powerful draw for international students is the increasing number of English-taught programs, with the number available increasing by 63 percent in the last five years. Find out more about the top three universities on the Chinese mainland: Tsinghua University Ranked 17 th in the world and first in the Mainland China Ranking in 2019, is in the Chinese capital of and is a member of the elite C9 League. Established in 1911, Tsinghua University now has a community of just over 46,000 students, including nearly 2,700 from outside of China. Looking at the most recent , Tsinghua University performs best for architecture, civil engineering, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering and materials sciences. Ready to study in China? For those not fluent in the language, many signs are written in English. Out of the 40 Chinese institutions featured in the , nine are based in Beijing, the Chinese capital. The university is also accepting more students through the Confucius Institute Scholarship Program, which aims to promote Chinese language and culture around the world. These include Spanish, British, Scandinavian, Canadian, Dutch, Italian and German settlements. Perhaps the best known is Thames Town, an eerily quiet English replica complete with cobbled streets, old English pubs and a statue of Sir Winston Churchill… all labeled with Chinese signs. Xi'an Xi'an is one of the oldest cities in China, with enough precious relics and historical sites to keep history devotees happy throughout their studies. One of the most famous and impressive sites is the Terracotta Warriors, which were made to be buried with the First Emperor Qin Shihuang, so they could serve him in the afterlife. The Shandong style of cuisine is also generally accepted as the most popular in China. Universities in Shandong include , one of the largest in China. Others are the , Shandong Jianzhu University, Shandong Normal University and the University of Jinan. Cost of living in China Inevitably for an economy that is growing so quickly, the cost of living in China is not quite as cheap as it used to be. International students can also choose to apply for a Chinese Government Scholarship Program, and will find information about this on the CUCAS. Chinese visa requirements state that for a stay of six months or more, you will need a study visa or X1 visa. For less than six months, an X2 visa will do. If you do not receive your admission package in time, you may be able to apply for a tourist visa L-visa and convert this to a student visa when you arrive. If you decide that maybe you want to tackle a course in the native tongue, you will need to provide adequate Hanyu Shuiping Kaoshi HSK — Chinese proficiency test results. You will usually need to reach level 3-8 there are a total of 11 , depending on your university and course.
