MINISTER'S 1978 VISIT OPENED DOOR TO UK UNIVERSITIES

Education secretary sealed agreement that saw nearly 500 Chinese students head to Britain in 1979

Before 1978, only a few dozen Chinese students had attended British universities, but that changed the following year, when hundreds made the journey.

The turnaround followed a visit to China by then UK education secretary Shirley Williams in July 1978, just as the country was embarking on reform and opening-up. She urged China to embrace foreign thinking and education.