The number of foreign students studying in the province reported in 1999 was 735, but the number last year reached 10,571, registering a13-fold increase within 10 years. The origins of the foreign students have also been more diverse, expanding from 49 countries to 107 countries.
"Previous foreign students mainly came from Asian-African countries and other developing countries, but now the number of foreign students from developed countries in Europe and North America has increased year by year". Jiang Shengxiang, deputy director of the provincial education department, cited an example. According to last year's statistics, the number of foreign students from the United States, Britain, and Germany ranked third, fourth and fifth respectively in the list of the origins of foreign students in the province.
Meanwhile, the number of universities in the province accepting foreign students has increased significantly from 11 in 1999 to 33 by now. And the number of universities accepting foreign students under Chinese government scholarship programme has increased from 2 to 6.