China has overtaken the US and UK as the top destination for anglophone African students

Over the years, there have been a huge number of African student moving to China for education.

In almost a decade and half the total student body has grown 26-fold.

Reports show that in 2003, there were 2,000Africanstudents in China, however, the 2015 African students population in China stands at almost 50,000

The UNESCO Institute for Statistics say the US and UK record around 40,000 African students yearly. Although France hosted over 95,000 African students in 2014, China placed second on the list of top destinations for African students studying abroad.

For years, these numbers have remained untranslated in the online archives of the Chinese Ministry of Education. Michigan State University researchers have put a recent initiativeaimed at translating online archives and reports to a wider audience.

Not only have these reports revealed the growth in China-Africa ties. They also make it possible to compare China’s international education trends in a global context.

China’s targeted focus

China can boast of enrolling many international students from all walks of life. Comparatively, the proportion of Asian international students is below the number of Africans, who make up 13% of the student body.

But this number, which is up from 2% in 2003, is growing every year, and much faster than other regions. Proportionally more African students are coming to China each year.

Experts believe that the rise in the number of students from Africa in China is as a result of the Chinese government’s targeted focus on African human resource and education development.

In 2000, China’s Forum on China-Africa Cooperation Forum summits promised financial and political support for African education at home and abroad in China.

Since 2006, China has set scholarship targets to aid African students coming to China for study.