More than 70 foreign universities and PhD academies will start recruiting Chinese PhD students here from Dec. 12 to 13, according to the China Education Association for International Exchange (CEAIE) Tuesday.

Zong Wa, a senior official with the CEAIE, the organizer of the event, told Xinhua that it was the first time for foreign higher education institutes to come to China to recruit PhD candidates.

More than 70 institutes from nine countries, including Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Canada, Switzerland, Italy, Australia, Singapore and the United States, have applied to attend the two-day recruitment event, bringing various funding and scholarships for Chinese candidates.

"This move shows that the foreign academic circle considers Chinese young scholars an important force of academic researches," Zong said.

The recruitment will cover a wide range of key subjects such as science, law, arts, finance and economy among others.

"With the rapid development of science and economy, China is in urgent need of a large number of talents with international academic background," Zong said.

According to Zong, China has now the largest number of graduates with PhD degrees. More than 310 universities in the country are entitled to confer PhD degrees.