American visas for more Chinese student exchanges

American official figures show that about 80,000 Chinese students were studying on an American visa last year in the US, nearly a 20 per cent rise from 2007. 

US students heading for China also surged by more than 25 per cent in the 2006-07 academic year, surpassing 11,000.

The encouragement of Chinese and American student exchanges is intended to foster mutual understanding, and the measure could signal a deregulation of tight enrolment and American visa policies on Chinese students.

The American ambassador Joh Huntsman, said: "Already there are probably 70,000 or 80,000 Chinese students in the United States, but it will be great if we could, over the next several years, enhance the number of students going back and forth".

The American Visa Bureau is an independent consulting company specialising in American visa and immigration services.