23 Pakistani students complete PhD, Masters, Bachelor degree in China

BEIJING, Jun 25 (APP):As many as 23 young and talented Pakistani students successfully completed their PhD, Masters and Graduate degrees from Beijing Institute of Technology (BIT), one of China’s most prestigious and top-ranked universities here on Monday.
Ali Imran was among 12 students who completed his PhD degree in Optics and Photonics while others secured their PhD degrees in Management Science, Computer Science, Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics at the Annual Convocation held at Zhongguancun Campus of the university.
“I managed to achieve this goal with the blessing of Allah Almighty, prayers of my parents and commitment to the study during a four-year stay at the university,” he told APP.
In the ceremony, 11 Pakistani students were also awarded Master and Bachelor degrees in Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and Automation.
The BIT is currently home to more than 2,200 international students from 137 different countries. The largest student population is coming from Pakistan, South Korea, Russia, Poland, Germany, France, Kazakhstan, Indonesia, and Thailand.
Currently, around 170 Pakistani students are studying in different graduate and postgraduate programs at BIT.
The most popular programs of BIT include Electronics Science and Technology, Aeronautics and Space Science and Technology, Software Engineering, Computer Science and Technology, Law and MBA etc.
While commenting on the rising number of Pakistani students for selecting China for study, Ali Imran said, “It is due to the “strong bond” between China and Pakistan.”
He said,”Pakistan considers China as one of its closest friend and partner, and China considers Pakistan as its ‘Iron Brother.”
Pakistani students are not just coming for the affordable education and job prospects but also for the general experience and quality of life possible in China’s big cities, said another student who also successfully completed a Master degree.
According to official data, now China has become the most popular destination for the overseas studies in Pakistan as the number of Pakistani students has risen from 5,000 to existing 22,000 during the last five years.
Out of the total number of Pakistani students, 3,000 are completing their PhD degrees while others are studying engineering, economic, management, agriculture, medicine, information technology, communication and languages.
An expert opined, these students, who secured their admissions under scholarships, are representing Pakistani society in China and are fast becoming a source of enhancing cultural exchanges and people to people contacts between the two countries.
The number of Pakistan students studying in China has increased manifold along with the progress of energy, communication and infrastructure projects being completed under China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
The Chinese government is providing more scholarships to Pakistani students than the students of other Asian countries.
Pakistani students belonging to almost all parts of the country are taking advantage of scholarships offered by Chinese government under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
Domestic efforts combined with the attractiveness of studying in China have changed the mindset of Pakistan’s young generation.
Traditionally, those who could afford it would send their children to the UK or the US. But, now, Pakistanis from the upper and lower middle classes apply for scholarships to study in China.
According to the statistics from the Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China, as many as 489,200 students from 204 countries and regions studied in 35 higher institutions across China last year.
The top five source countries were Pakistan, South Korea, Thailand, the United States and India.
The number of students studying liberal arts subjects remained the highest, accounting for 48.45 per cent of the total.
The number of those studying engineering, management, science, art and agriculture increased significantly, with a year-on-year growth of over 20 per cent.
Moreover, 58,600 Chinese government scholarship students from 180 countries including Pakistan studied in the country in 2017, accounting for 11.97 per cent.
Chinese universities are rising quickly in the list of Asia’s best universities, with Peking University becoming the second best institution in Asia.
In total, 45 Chinese mainland universities have made it to Asia’s top 300, while six are from Hong Kong and 25 from Taiwan.