The rapid economic development in China has enabled an increasing number of Chinese students to
pursue higher education in countries abroad including Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain, the
United States, and other European countries. According to the China Ministry of Education, a total of 413,900
students were studying abroad in 2013, which is an increase of 3.58% compared to the data published in 2012.
According to the Study Abroad Trend Report for 2014, conducted by Online China Education, the number of
Chinese students who study abroad to gain a bachelor’s degree or below is rising, and the current group of
Chinese overseas students is younger than in past years. However, the number of Chinese applicants for top
universities is decreasing because there is a gap between the Chinese applicants’ qualifications and the
admission requirements at these universities, yet this gap stems from neither the language competency nor
academic ability.
