Increasing enrollment in China's higher education system by about 5 per cent is an obtainable goal, said Shen Shituan, President of Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, and also member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC)

The State's target enabling 15 per cent of school age people to attend universities by 2010 is in accord with the demands and the current situation, said Shen.

Currently only 10.5 per cent of Chinese young people between 18 to 24 can receive higher education, according to statistics from the Ministry of Education, nearly 40 per cent lower than the average level in developed countries.

Top Chinese leaders, including President Jiang Zemin and Premier Zhu Rongji, are encouraging expansion of the enrollment in institutions of higher learning.

On the plus side, university and college enrollment rose by 47.4 per cent over 1998.

Moreover, the central government is to form a new system under which schools are run by governments at central and provincial levels.

Responding to people's anxieties that these measures may result in the decline of educational quality, members of the CPPCC make a clear financial commitment.

An Education Development Bank with its funds based on financial allocation, long-term bonds, funds out of budgets such as local, regional or enterprises and postal deposits is a practical means to solve the badly-needed education fund, suggested You Qingquan, vice-chairman of the Hubei Provincial Committee of the China Democratic League.

For those universities transferred from the central level to the provincial level, the original budget will be brought to the province, and another additional 15 per cent will be added to the budget, said Zhang Xiaowen, member of the Standing Committee of the Ninth CPPCC National Committee.

Meanwhile, members called for creating an environment to foster burgeoning talent.

Xu Guanhua, vice-minister of Science and Technology, said that talented people are where innovations come from and that policies should be geared toward supporting them to revitalize China through science and technology.

Zhu Xun, director of the committee of the Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan affairs and overseas Chinese affairs of CPPCC, suggested setting up special high-tech parks to attract Chinese students studying overseas.