More than 30,000 visitors are expected to attend the study abroad-focused China Education Expo 2007 in Beijing tomorrow.

The annual expo, now in its eighth year, will see a record-breaking number of representatives from 600 overseas colleges and universities from 41 countries and regions.

Under the theme "Your Multiple Choices," the expo is expected to showcase the vast amount of high quality education programs available in China.

"We hope the expo will draw overseas participants closer to the visitors, who are becoming increasingly career-minded," Zong Wa, director of China Center for International Education Exchange which organized the expo, said.

An opportunity for overseas schools to expand into the world's potentially largest recruitment market, the event has drawn many sponsors including the British Embassy, German Academic Exchange Service or DAAD, International Development Program of Australian Universities and Colleges, CampusFrance, Spanish Embassy, New Zealand Trade and Enterprise and the Japan Student Services Organization.

Apart from information booths, presentations will be given to students so they can discover more about the wide range of study opportunities.

Besides Beijing, the expo will move to Qingdao, Wuhan, Shanghai, Xi'an, Chengdu and finally Shenzhen from October 23 to November 4.

The expo will have many highlights including:

European Higher Education Fair: It will showcase various programs of some 200 higher education institutions from 27 EU member states and the European Commission's Erasmus Mundus masters courses, marking the largest education presence by Europe in China.

The United States: Roughly 50 US institutions will attend the expo, in what could be a quick reaction to the US Government's recent move to relax student visa conditions. They will showcase their scholarships and best subjects.

Russia: 35 Russian universities will attend the expo aiming to make Russia a new popular destination for Chinese students in the next few years.

Japan: 34 Japanese universities will attend the expo. The Japanese government has promised to make vigorous efforts to attract Asia especially China's outstanding students through favorable scholarship policies.

(China Daily October 19, 2007)