New Zealand is one of the countries chosen by Chinese students for their overseas education. (Photo : Bloomberg)
An increasing number of Chinese students are entering New Zealand to obtain higher education, postgraduate degrees included. According to a new report, Chinese lead the influx of foreign students in the southwest Pacific country.
A report by Education New Zealand shows that the number of international students entering New Zealand to study from Jan. to Aug. 2014 increased by 12 percent year on year. Chinese students make the biggest population among these new foreign students.
According to the same report, for this period as well, there were already 93,137 international students enrolled in the primary, secondary and tertiary levels in schools across New Zealand.
Over the same period, the value of the international education industry also increased significantly by NZ$258 million. The industry is now worth NZ$2.85 billion.
Further, it is worth noting that most of the students came from the Asian countries of China, India and Indonesia, with China being the single biggest market.
The population of enrolled Chinese students is now up by 12 percent. Chinese students also account for the 29.1 percent of international student spending.
Steven Joyce, the minister of Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment, said that this is good news. He said that he could not be more pleased with the upward trend.
"It's particularly pleasing to see a big lift in higher-level study, with a 41-percent increase in the number of students studying for postgraduate level qualifications," Joyce stated.
"International education continues to be a very important export earner for New Zealand. International students also help to build our country's links with our trading partners and they enrich the communities in which they live and study," Joyce added.
