BEIJING, Feb. 28 (Xinhuanet) -- China had 23 million students in its institutions of higher learning by the end of 2005, an education official said here Tuesday..

    Chinese Minister of Education Zhou Ji told a press conference that the gross enrollment rate of higher education institutions in China reached 21 percent last year, an 8.5 percent increase of that of 2000.

    The increase marked the steady and sound growth of China's higher education, Zhou said. Enditem