China has sponsored 22,031 people to study abroad in the past 10 years with the scheduled return rate on average reaching 97.02 percent, and in 2004, the rate exceeded 99 percent. This was learned from the 2006 Work Conference On the Selection of Government-Sponsored Overseas Students held on December 1 in Wuhan according to Xinhua, reports the overseas edition of People's Daily on December 2.

China sponsored about 3,000 people on average annually during the period from early 1980s to 1995. In recent years, the number of government-financed students has been on the increase each year. The number reached 7,000 in 2005, or an increase of 75 per cent over the previous year, hitting an all-time high in history.

The government-funded students are mainly young scholars on short-term study and training. The China Scholarship Council has provided financial assistance to them for overseas study.