More middle schools students are looking to attend school overseas, according to attendees at the 13th Modern Education and Study Abroad Exhibition June 24.

"We used to have a lot of undergraduates at the fair, but in recent years we have seen more middle and high school students seeking to study abroad," said Chen Lei, a representative from the International Education Association Shanghai, which organized the event.

The number of people in Shanghai studying aboard is expected to increase by more than 25 percent this year, primarily due to the increase in younger students, Zou Yuwen, deputy director of the Shanghai International Travel Healthcare Center told the Shanghai Morning Post in a June 20 report.

The healthcare center conducts physical examinations for residents traveling overseas.

Chen Donghai, deputy director of the China International Intellectech Corporation's Shanghai Office, one of the city's major overseas education and immigration agencies, said that about one-third of their clients are applying to foreign high schools this year, a far larger proportion than in previous years. "The tradition of putting education first and the more favorable exchange rates for US dollars and euros have pushed more affluent Chinese families to send their children abroad earlier," he said.

As part of the trend, international cooperative education programs are growing in popularity. Zhu Jiani, a 17-year-old girl who is studying for a British high school curriculum certificate said she appreciated the greater variety of courses she could study once she abandoned the Chinese public school system.

Chinese you need:

Middle school：中学 (zhōng xué)
Attendee：出席者 (chū xí zhě)
Undergraduate：本科生 (běn kē shēng)
Representative：代表 (dài biǎo)
Organize：组织 (zǔ zhī)
Abroad：海外地 (hǎi wài de)
Primarily：主要地 (zhǔ yào de)
Post：邮寄 (yóu j)
Physical examination：体检 (tǐ jiǎn)Immigration：移民 (yí mín)
Client：客户 (kè hù)
Proportion：比例 (bǐ lì)
Exchange rate：汇率 (huì lǜ)
Affluent：富裕的 (fù yù de)
Popularity：人口 (rén kǒu)