More Chinese students return to China after obtaining degrees overseas

China has seen a slower increase in students studying abroad but faster growth in students returning after obtaining overseas degrees last year, according to the latest figures released by the Ministry of Education on Monday.

A total of 703,500 Chinese students went abroad to study last year, up 6.25 percent from a year earlier, the ministry said. The growth rate in 2019 was down by about 2.5 percentage points from 2018.

The number of overseas students returning home after graduation totaled 580,300 in 2019, up 11.73 percent from the previous year. The growth rate last year was up by 3.7 percentage points from 2018, the ministry said.

More than 6.56 million Chinese students studied abroad between 1978 and the end of last year, according to the ministry. A total of 4.9 million completed their studies, and 4.23 million chose to return to China after finishing their studies, it said.