Wooing Chinese students with relaxed rules

The promise of less painful visa application processes were highlighted as one of the main selling points by many of the overseas schools that participated in the China International Education Exhibition in Shanghai on May 15.

A number of countries such as France and Canada have in recent months relaxed their visa policies in what looks to be an attempt to attract Chinese students who are seeking overseas education. China has for several years been the world's largest supplier of students to foreign education institutes.

The French Embassy in China announced on May 12 that undergraduate students from top Chinese universities who are headed to France for exchange or double degree programs will for the first time in history be exempted from a visa interview. Moreover, awardees of a government scholarship by either France, China or any country in the European Union will be exempted from paying the visa application fee.