Applicants registering to study for a master's degree in China this year have hit a record 797,000, a rise of 27.7 percent over last year's figure.
Of them, 384,000 will be this year's university graduates, accounting for 48.2 percent of the total number, according to the Ministry of Education.
The Education Ministry had planned to enroll 217,000 people to study for a master's degree this year, up 33 percent over last year.
Those Chinese universities with the most applicants were: Peking University, Fudan University, Wuhan University, Zhejiang University, People's University of China, Sichuan University, Nanjing University, Zhongshan University, Qinghua University and Jilin University.
The Chinese provinces and municipalities with the most applicants were Beijing, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Hubei, Shaanxi, Liaoning, Guangdong, Sichuan, Shandong and Hunan. The numbers of applicants in Beijing and Shanghai were 149,000 and 79,200, respectively.
The top three academic subjects chosen by the applicants were business administration, law, and computer application.
Preparations for entrance exams, which begin on Jan. 18 and 19,had been well done.
(Xinhua News Agency January 15, 2003)
