The Chinese central government provided 800 million yuan ($117 million) in scholarships to international students this year and the provincial governments offered about 110 million yuan in scholarships, according to the ministry.

"Other channels for scholarships have been opening up, as self-funding foreign students are set to become the largest overseas group in China and enterprises have acquired greater awareness of how to attract high-caliber applicants in recent years," he said.

Since 2007, some State-owned enterprises and private firms have set up scholarship programs for overseas students, including PetroChina, China Development Bank and Huawei Group.

The document also pointed out the need to train a large number of first-rate teachers, who can teach in fluent English and optimize courses for international students before 2020.

"We should provide a series of degree courses taught in English, which will enable international students to have more choice in the future," the vice-minister said on Tuesday.