"China should communicate and cooperate more frequently with educational institutes in other countries, to make credit transfers and verification of qualifications easier and smoother," Wang said. "That would definitely help China to attract more students from a larger number of countries."

Fang said the Education Ministry is aware of the problem and that a platform is being built to enable mutual recognition and easy transferability of credits awarded to international students in both China and their home countries.

"It's not an easy task, but we've made some breakthroughs," he said, citing the ministry's recent cooperation with U15 — an association of 15 research universities in Canada, including the universities of Alberta, Toronto and Waterloo — as an example.

Thanks to the enhanced cooperation, some prestigious Chinese universities selected by the ministry will offer a series of high-quality courses to attract U15 students to study in China for four to eight semesters. The credits achieved will be recognized by both countries.

"The members of staff at China's embassy and consulates in Canada are optimistic about the recruitment prospects, and about 500 Canadian students are expected to study in China under the program this year," Fang said.

Contact the writer at zhaoxinying@chinadaily.com.cn