"Most of the students who plan to study overseas aim to gain knowledge these days, particularly those who finance their own studies themselves. These students are bent on developing their career on the Chinese mainland rather than working abroad in due course," it said.

The current situation is a far cry from that in the 1970s or 1980s, it said, when Chinese students tended to seek jobs in the foreign countries and attempt to emigrate after completing their studies.

The newspaper made the remarks after latest statistics of the United Nations showed that the number of foreign countries Chinese mainland students have gone to do their studies reached 103. Due to historical and practical reasons, many tend to go to the United Kingdom, the United States and other English-speaking countries.

The newspaper report also quoted an academic source as saying that the present-day Chinese students tend to seek a master's degree or even post-doctoral research abroad, rather than just a basic bachelor's degree or the once-popular master's degree in business administration as in the old days.

(Xinhua News Agency August 14, 2002)