Charter flight brings students to UK

Zhang Meifang, China's consul general in Belfast and Ian Greer, president and vice-chancellor of QUB, were at Belfast International Airport to welcome the arriving students.

"Affected by the global pandemic, studying abroad in this year is different from previous years," Zhang said in a welcome speech, adding that the Chinese government attaches great importance to QUB's charter flight plan.

"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Education, the Civil Aviation Administration of China and other departments have worked closely with our consulate, to actively practice 'diplomacy for the people', to ensure everyone's safety and make their study overseas journey smooth," said Zhang.

According to the Higher Education Statistics Agency, last year the number of students from China studying in UK higher education surpassed 120,000 for the first time, accounting for more than one in every three non-European Union students. The total number of Chinese students studying in the UK is now more than 220,000, Chinese government figures show.

These students contribute 4 billion pounds ($5.17 billion) to the UK's economy per year in tuition fees and other spending such as accommodation, a BBC report said.

The report also said since the pandemic began, UK universities have been worried about major financial losses if Chinese students withdraw from their courses in the new academic year in the fall, amid concern over high COVID-19 infection rates and a high death toll in the UK.