Newly enrolled female students exceeded males this year for the first time in the 91-year history of coeducation at Nankai University, the Beijing Youth Daily reports.

A girl from Chongqing University, Sun Wenting.[File photo]

The university's enrolment report says 1662 female students joined as undergraduates this year, accounting for 53.1 percent of the 3127 freshers.

The number of female students at Nankai has been steadily rising for the past six years. In 2004 proportion of girls at the university was 44.9 percent, rising to 49.9 percent last year. This year, the girls overtook the boys.

The increase of female students follows government efforts to boost the number of girls in higher education. It also reflects a marked change from earlier times when girls had far fewer educational opportunities than boys.