University bids to lure students from overseas
By Chen Yingqun (China Daily Europe) Updated：2017-08-25
The university, located in Kunshan in East China's Jiangsu province, is seeking to recruit a class of 225 students, including at least 50 from overseas. The university has previously offered only postgraduate courses and a non-degree undergraduate program called Global Learning Semester.
Following its rapid economic growth over the past four decades, China has become a popular destination for international students.
A total of 442,773 international students went to China to study in 2016, according to statistics from the Ministry of Education. Jiangsu is the third-largest destination for foreign students, behind Beijing and Shanghai.
The number of students from Europe was about 71,319 in 2016, which was 6.85 percent more than the previous year. France ranks as the top source of students, with 10,414 studying in China, while Germany ranks second with 8,145.
He Chugang, general manager of the southern China region at Amber Education, an overseas study consultancy, says the current number of students from developed countries studying in China, such as those from Europe and the United States, is not that big. But the trend is that students from Europe and the US are getting more interested in studying in China, He says.
"China's rapid economic growth will bring more business opportunities and will also make China a more global presence," he says. "This will attract more students to come to China to learn about its language, culture and market. Many executives in global companies have the experience of studying in China."
He adds that in certain fields, such as creative arts, design and technology, there are good learning opportunities in China.
Russell Davis, director of global student recruitment at Duke Kunshan, says the university provides students with a unique opportunity to live and study in China and the US while pursuing a world-class education and degrees from both Duke and Duke Kunshan.
"Students will study in a truly global environment. The undergraduate academic program spans two continents - in Kunshan, at a state-of-the-art campus; and a two-semester experience at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina," he says, adding that non-Chinese students will be required to learn Mandarin.
Davis says Duke Kunshan will steadily increase the class size in the years ahead. At full capacity, Duke Kunshan will have 2,000 undergraduate students with a mix of 60 percent Chinese from the mainland and 40 percent from other regions of the world.
