A woman talks to exhibitors at the China International Exhibition Education Tour yesterday. Fewer Chinese children are studying overseas because their parents are "more rational." (Photo: Shanghai Daily/Zhang Suoqing)

The number of Chinese children studying overseas has decreased in recent years as parents become "more rational" and local schools offer more choice.

At the China International Exhibition Education Tour yesterday, the 12 booths set up by high schools from the United States, Canada, United Kingdom and other countries attracted interest from just 20 families in the whole of the morning session.

"The disappointing turnout was partly due to the fact that the show was held on a Tuesday, instead of at the weekend," said Huang Yi, deputy manager of Shanghai-based educational agency EduShanghai International Co.

"Also, the business of international educational services is now very prosperous in Shanghai, so there are plenty of agencies accessible to local families, so they don't have to come to the exhibition," Huang said.

More than 15,000 students were granted visas to study abroad last year, an increase of 50 percent from 2013, said Zhang Jin, vice director of the International Exchange Office of the Shanghai Educational Commission.

The increase was mostly due to an increase in the number of undergraduate students going abroad, as the number of children going to foreign high schools fell sharply, he said.

He refused, however, to give actual figures.

"This shows that parents in Shanghai are getting more and more rational about sending their children abroad after they saw other families had problems," Zhang said, without elaborating.

Che Weimin, vice director of the Chinese Service Center for Scholarly Exchange, an international education services provider under the education ministry, said that parents used to think they should let their children get exposure to international cultures and high-quality education so they would have an edge over their peers.

"Things have changed," he said.