[英语新闻]Support for foreign students

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SHANGHAI will begin offering government scholarships for overseas postgraduates this year to attract more students to study here, the Shanghai Education Commission announced recently.

　　"Every year, the Shanghai municipal government will allocate 20 million yuan (US$2.4 million) to a scholarship fund for the city's foreign students to improve their lives," said Zhang Minxuan, the vice-director of the commission. "The commission has set up rules to manage the fund and certain criteria to choose qualified nominees."

　　Students can directly apply for scholarships from the fund or to the school they are interested in, which would apply on their behalf, said Zhang.

　　The applicants will be evaluated on their academic achievements and behaviour in school, and the amount will be awarded, fully or partly, according to the result.

　　Zhang also said that the scholarships were expected to be available to undergraduates from next year.

　　The scholarship scheme shows the government's determination to improve its university education and attract new talents, said Zhang.

　　More than 22,000 foreign students were studying in the city last year, compared to 6,500 in 2002.

　　The figure is expected to exceed

　　50,000 by 2010, constituting almost half of all international students in the country at that time," said Zhou Qinjian, an official from the commission.

　　It is also anticipated that more of them will be involved in a wider range of programmes instead of concentrating solely on studying Chinese. Cao Li