China's fast economic development has attracted foreign investment as well as foreign students.

Zhang Xinsheng, vice minister of education, said Thursday 77,715 foreign students from 175 countries came to study in China in 2003.

Among them, 6,153 were aided by scholarship granted by the Chinese government and 71,562 pursued studies in China on their own expenses, said Zhang.

Zhang said the level of foreign students studying in China is rising steadily.

"The number of foreign students that came to study in China in 2003 dropped by 9.45 percent due to the SARS outbreak, but the number of diploma students and long-stay students rose by 17 percent and 6.54 percent respectively," Zhang said.

Job prospects for these students are bright as China's exchanges with the outside world increase.

More than 630,000 foreign students have studied here since 1950, when the People's Republic of China welcomed the first group of students from overseas. These students are now active in a variety of sectors in their home countries, including foreign affairs, government offices and economic, trade, scientific, educational, cultural and public health exchanges with China.

"Incomplete statistics show more than 30 of them hold ministerial positions in their home countries and more than 120 are professors and associate professors. Most of the young and middle-aged foreign diplomats to China have studied in China," said Zhang.

A considerable number of them are working for foreign-funded enterprises in China.

(Xinhua News Agency March 19, 2004)