As we can see from the chart, China’s higher education is developing quickly. There were only about on million college students when New China was born in 1949, while the number reached 4.5 million in 2002.

Several factors have contributed to the development of China’s higher education. First, China’s rapid economic development, especially during the twenty years of reform and opening up, has laid a sound foundation. Second, the Chinese government has been trying hard to encourage the development of higher education. One of the measures taken was to increase college enrollment starting from 1999. Third, most people have begun to realize the importance of higher education.