As an important component of international exchanges and cooperation, international students education has been given great importance by the Chinese government. Due to more than sixty years painstaking efforts, an international students administration system, with distinct Chinese characteristics, has been constructed. This system has helped to produce a number of talents in the fields of science, technology, education, diplomacy, management, etc. for many countries, especially developing countries, and played an active role in enhancing the political, diplomatic and economic ties between China and those countries as well as promoting the exchange of culture, education and personnel.

In 1950, China received the first group of 33 students from the East European countries. By the end of 2009, the total number of international students in China has increased to 1,690,000 with 238,184 in 2009. They are from 190 different countries and districts. Since 1997, the Chinese Scholarships Council (CSC) has been entrusted by the Ministry of Education with the enrollment and administration of daily operations concerning international students in China sponsored by Chinese Government Scholarships.

A total of more than 600 universities in China are qualified to enroll foreign students. They provide both diploma education and non-diploma education, with the former including senior and junior undergraduate students, Master Degree Students, and Ph.D Students, and the latter including trainees and research scholars.

In 2009, International students from Asia still top the list of all, accounting for 68%. While Europe accounting for 15%; America accounting for 10.07%; Africa accounting for 5%, and Oceania accounting for 1.1%. Among them, South Korea, the United States, Japan, Vietnam, Thailand, Russia, India, Indonesia, Kazakhstan and Pakistan are the top ten countries that have the largest numbers of international students in China, numbered 64,232, 18,650, 15,409, 12,247, 11,379 , 10,596, 8468, 7,926, 6,497 and 5,738 respectively. Other countries, which have over 4,000 students in China, are Mongolia (5,684), France(5,422) and Germany (4,239).

Foreign students are encouraged to work toward postgraduates and doctoral degrees in Chinese universities, and those who have graduated in China are welcome to return for further education. Courses conducted directly by foreign languages are available for these students in some universities.

The Chinese government sets the principle of "deepening reform, improving management, ensuring quality, and developing prudently." The Chinese government is adjusting old policies and enacting new ones to make China a better place for international students.

The Chinese government launched the "Study in China Program", hoping to attract 500,000 foreign students to study in China by 2020.

*The above data does not include Taiwan, Hongkong and Macau