A total of 662,100 Chinese students studied abroad in 2018, showing a slower growth rate, while the number of overseas returnees continued to rise, reaching 519,400 in 2018, according to data released by the Ministry of Education (MOE) on Wednesday.

Among the 662,100 Chinese overseas students, 30,200 were sponsored by the government, 35,600 were funded by institutions and 596,300 were self-supported in 2018. Among the returnees, 25,300 were government-sponsored, 26,500 institution-funded and 467,600 self-supported, according to MOE.

The number of students studying abroad increased by 53,700 in 2018, a rise of 8.83 percent, while the growth rate in 2017 was 11.74 percent. The number of overseas returnees went up by 38,500, an increase of 8 percent compared with that of 2017, guancha.cn reported on Thursday.  

From 1978 to the end of 2018, more than 5.85 million Chinese people studied overseas. 4,323,200 students have completed their studies and more than 3.65 million chose to return to China, accounting for 84.46 percent of those who had completed their studies, according to MOE.

China remains the greatest source of foreign students in the US, accounting for 33.2 percent of all international students in the country. 

The number of Chinese students in the US experienced a slower growth rate from the 2017 to 2018 academic years compared with the previous year, Open Door 2018 published by the American Institute of International Education showed in November 2018. 

Global Times