Overseas study procedures go digital in China

BEIJING -- Chinese students seeking or finishing overseas study can now have all their related government procedures conducted online, thanks to an "Internet Plus" reform launched by the Ministry of Education.

Government services for overseas study including government-sponsored overseas education, academic qualification authentication, personal information record archiving and employment procedures are now accessible online, said Cheng Jiacai, director of the Chinese Service Center for Scholarly Exchange (CSCSE) affiliated to the ministry, at a press conference Thursday.

The new online service platform launched by the CSCSE is expected to benefit over 400,000 people each year, according to Cheng.

The platform can also be accessed through mobile applications such as WeChat.

By sharing information with other relevant government agencies, the new platform will save students time that used to be spent going back and forth between different government offices to submit materials, making it a one-stop site for overseas study services, according to Cheng.

Robots will also be used in the future to further improve the services, he said.