SHENYANG, China (Yonhap) -- The number of South Koreans studying in China surpassed 60,000 last year, making them the largest group of foreign students here, a government report showed Friday.
According to China's Education Ministry, 62,442 South Korean students were registered in China last year, accounting for more than 21 percent of all foreign visa students.
U.S. students were the second-largest group with 23,292 students enrolled, followed by Japan with 17,961.
The ministry said China hosted 292,611 foreign students from 194 countries in 2011, an annual increase of 10.4 percent.
According to the ministry, the students were enrolled at 660 universities or research institutes across 31 provinces, cities or autonomous regions.
Asian students accounted for more than 64 percent of all foreign students, followed by students from Europe, the Americas and Africa.
China aims to host up to 500,000 international students by 2020.