Beijing plans an education overhaul in an attempt to boost the number of international students studying in the city by 14%. the Global Times reported.

The China capital plans to renovate the curriculum and focus on improving the quality of college facilities to attract more students from overseas. There are also plans to make connections with Ivy League universities in the USA to enable international exchange programmes.

According to 2009 Ministry of Education statistics, last year 71,000 overseas students studied in Beijing, the majority of whom originate from South Korea, Japan and the United States. With the new strategy to increase the international student intake, the city aims to increase this number by another 10,000.

Last month i-studentadvisor reported a rise in the number of overseas students studying throughout China in 2009. Last year nearly 240,000 foreign students enrolled to study at Chinese institutions.

The aim to increase the number of overseas students in China and Beijing will be assisted by Barack Obama’s pledge last year to send 100,000 US Students to China over the next four years.