China setting up first university campuses abroad

By Didi Tang. In the capital of tropical Laos, two dozen students who see their future in trade ties with neighboring China spent their school year attending Mandarin classes in a no-frills, rented room. It's the start of China's first, and almost certainly not its last, university campus abroad.
"There are a lot of companies in Laos that are from China," said 19-year-old Palamy Siphandone. She said she chose the Soochow University branch campus after hearing it would offer scholarships to students with high scores.
"If I can speak Chinese, I get more opportunities to work with them," she said in a telephone interview during a trip to the eastern Chinese city of Suzhou - the home city of Soochow University.
Education officials in China are promoting the notion of the country's universities expanding overseas, tapping new education markets while extending the influence of the rising economic power. China so far has been on the receiving end of the globalization of education, with Western institutions rushing to China to set up shop. Now it's stepping out. Read more...