China has signed agreements on the mutual recognition of higher education degrees with 19 EU member states, including France, Germany and Italy, according to the Ministry of Education.

The ministry made the announcement on Saturday at a briefing on the China-EU education ministers conference and the fourth Education Policy Dialogue between China and central and eastern European countries.

The two meetings will be held in Beijing on October 11, and focus on the mutual recognition of credits between higher learning institutions in China and the EU, as well as the balanced flow of students between the two parties, the ministry said.

According to official statistics, more than 303,000 Chinese students were studying in the EU by the end of 2015, accounting for 24 percent of all Chinese students abroad, an increase of 7.5 percent from 2014.

Over 123,000 Chinese students started studies in the EU last year, about 23 percent of all students who went abroad in 2015, up 29 percent from 2014.

More than 45,000 EU students came to China in 2015,accounting for 11.3 percent of all international students studying in the country last year.

Last year saw over 3,000 EU students receiving scholarships from the Chinese government, a rise of 12 percent on the 2014 figures.