More than 30,000 foreign students from 156 countries and regions are studying in Beijing, accounting for 40 percent of the total number of foreign students in China, and the number is expected to reach 50,000 in the next three to five years.

Statistics submitted by the Beijing Municipal Education Commission show that the students from overseas are taking nearly 1,000 majors, including the Chinese language, traditional Chinese medicine, and Chinese drama, reported Tuesday's Beijing Daily.

Peking University, Beijing Language and Culture University, and Beijing Normal University are the state designated teaching bases for overseas students. Peking University has opened over 200 majors to foreign students, who are interested in majors like history, archeology, museology, philosophy and religion.

The number of foreign students has led to the establishment of international education and cross-school exchanges, which create 30,000 jobs annually and generate five billion yuan (US$602 million) in income.

Colleges and universities of Beijing like prestigious Peking University, Tsinghua University and Beijing Normal University have set up relations with more than 1,000 foreign colleges and universities including Harvard and Cambridge.

(Xinhua News Agency July 21, 2003)