China will soon surpass Morocco to become the largest source of overseas students to France, according to a prediction by Laure Castin, an attache in charge of university cooperation at the French Embassy in China.

Currently, about 35,000 Chinese students are studying in France, and the figure is expected to reach 50,000 in 2015, according to Castin.

In 2012, the number of students from Morocco exceeded that from China by fewer than 3,000.

More than 10,000 Chinese students obtained visas for study in France last year, and the number is expected to rise next year, when the two countries will mark the 50th anniversary of the establishment of their diplomatic relations, Castin said.