At Fudan University this year Professor Liu Yongtao's course, The History of Diplomacy in Modern China, attracted 27 students. Liu said that the course is intended to provide an introductory survey of Chinese diplomacy from 1949 to the early 21st century.

In the course the students will discuss, among other topics, human rights, Sino-African relations, China's panda diplomacy and how Western and Chinese education systems compare. The first class of the semester saw the professor reminding students to take a critical approach to the subject. Looking around the lecture room, outsiders would have noticed something different. This course at a Chinese university has attracted students from the US, Japan, South Korea, New Zealand, Italy and Russia.

It's a sign of changing times in China's universities. Professor Liu's class is one of 160 English-language courses at Fudan open to both Chinese students and students from abroad.

Professor Liu from the Center of American Studies at Fudan University has been teaching this course since 2008. He said that it was initially a small class designed for exchange students from the US.

Although many overseas students studying at Chinese universities are here to study the Chinese language, there is a growing number taking a range of other courses as well.

Like Matthew Vaught who moved from the University of California in San Diego to Fudan University. He told the Global Times that he chose to come to China as an exchange student because he wanted to learn more about China's politics and history by studying at a top university.

"I am very interested in China, especially in its foreign policy and how this impacts Sino-US relations. I am expecting not only to learn about the history of the country, but also its present and future," he said.

Classmate Veena Patel from New Zealand has the same wish. "I think many people in the world today are a little afraid of China because of its increasing power. A lot of this is due to misunderstanding and miscommunication. That's why I have come to China - to learn different points of views," Patel told the Global Times.

Liu said he had found many foreign students knew very little about Chinese history and culture. "Like very few were aware that China borders 14 different countries. It's no wonder they can't understand the foreign policies China has had to create in a historical context."

School is in

The Shanghai Municipal Education Committee reported that in 2011, there were more than 43,000 foreign students in Shanghai universities. Ten years ago there were just 3,388. There is an annual average increase of 30 percent and Shanghai now has the second highest number of foreign students (after Beijing) in the country. By 2015 the city is expected to host 70,000 foreign students.

As the numbers have soared, the courses these students are seeking have changed as well. In the past, 90 percent came here to study Chinese. Today more than a third come to major in medicine, accountancy, economics, engineering or other professional degrees.

However in 2010 the democratic party, the Jiu San Society Shanghai Committee, surveyed foreign students' education and development in Shanghai and pointed out that the number of foreign students in Shanghai was relatively small compared with other international cities in the world and the academic levels of the foreign students were also comparatively low.

According to that survey, more than 57 percent of the foreign students in Shanghai were studying Chinese or related majors.

"The top universities in China spend a lot of resources on language training and this is kind of a waste. If China wants to develop its international education levels, it should have more English-language courses to attract global talents," the survey suggested.

The situation has changed a little. A follow-up survey conducted by the city education authority showed that the percentage of foreign students who had been granted government scholarships to study Chinese dropped 8 percent from 2007 to 2010 while students majoring in economics and management had increased by 11.2 percent and 3 percent respectively.

"This meant that not only our language courses but other university majors were being accepted by foreign students," said Yang Weiren, the director of the International Communications Department of Shanghai Municipal Education Commission.

In 2013 the New York University Shanghai will open in Lujiazui, the city's financial heart. It will be the first American university to be independently registered by China's Ministry of Education.

Yang told the Global Times that Shanghai launched a citywide English-language courses program in 2009. Since then every year selected courses have received a 60,000 yuan ($9,466) subsidy from the education commission. By 2015 some 80 courses will be promoted as important and worthwhile international courses in Shanghai's universities.

"In the meantime we have found that some foreign students lack basic science knowledge. We have established preparatory study centers for them to learn Chinese and science so that they can keep up with their university studies later," Yang said.

Nothing new

English-language courses have been available for some years in several universities in Shanghai. In Fudan, they were introduced in 2004. Now 67 percent of its courses for foreign students are taught in English. This year these have attracted more than 2,000 foreign students studying 160 courses including economic management, politics and law, history and culture, science and technology.

Wang Ying, the deputy director of the Academic Affairs Department at Fudan, was a foreign student herself in the US 20 years ago. She told the Global Times that it was vital to have English-language classes in China's leading universities to attract quality students and teachers and raise the international profile of the institutions.

"We require that all the course work be done in English, including textbooks, class discussions, tests and homework. We encourage Chinese and foreign students to take these courses because we believe students should not only learn the language but also the different perspectives, methods and the ways of thinking," Wang said.

Chen Hong, a lecturer from the Environmental Science Department at Fudan, and his colleague Yang Xin are in their third semester teaching in English an energy and environment course which deals with new energy and global environmental issues. Newly half of the students in their classes are foreign students.

"Sometimes I worry whether foreign students can understand my accent and pass the tests. But, surprisingly, the best-performing students in my class are foreign students," Yang said.

Quality is important

Chen Qiang, the head of the International School at Tongji University - one of the earliest universities in Shanghai to accept foreign students - told the Global Times that students from 108 countries were studying at Tongji last year.

"I think foreign student education should not just be concerned with student numbers - the quality of the education is more important. The low levels of foreign student education merely reflected the low levels that were occurring in Chinese higher education," Chen said.

"We must now consider developing education for this group based on the advantages and the pressures of Shanghai's economy and development. We should be asking what kind of talents the city needs the most," Chen said.

Last year, 741 foreign students from 21 schools in Tongji took nine general education courses, including Chinese history and culture, Chinese social economics, sustainable development, China's intellectual property protection, Chinese diplomacy and international relations.

Professor Cheng Yu teaches Chinese social economics to Chinese and foreign students at Tongji. "These courses are not forcing foreign students to accept China's systems but they explain how the systems were created," Cheng said.

Cheng's courses include discussions about China's political system, social structures, industry development, foreign trade, financial systems, population, employment and family issues. "European students said they could understand the family control policy in this context while some Japanese students didn't think they could."

Cheng said that she believed in providing the students with facts and letting them draw their own conclusions. "One time a student asked me about Tibet and independence. I encouraged him to go to Tibet since he was already in China. Don't listen to what other people say, see it with your own eyes."

Overseas experience

In 2000 the Shanghai Institute of Foreign Trade started its English courses. Now 200 lecturers at the university are presenting more than 100 English-language courses.

Xi Hongmei, the head of the university's marketing department, said that the most important task for an English-language course was finding qualified teachers. "We send all our English-language course teachers to overseas universities to study teaching methods and ideas before they begin teaching here," Xi said.

"We want to create courses which will be recognized internationally," said Xu Yonglin, the director of the university's Finance School. Both Xu and Xi began teaching English-language courses in 2000.

Shi Longxiang, an associate professor from the International Business School at the university, told the Global Times that he believed the core value of English-language courses in Chinese universities was in building a bridge to use Western theories to explain China's situation. "This gives us a huge area to explore and it is very attractive for foreigners."

Professor Zhang Xiaopeng from the Higher Education Research Department at Fudan University told the Global Times that although things are changing for the better, Shanghai still had several problems with foreign student education. The foreign students in Shanghai are concentrated in 13 universities while the other 50 institutions apparently accept no foreign students for this type of study.

On the other hand, only 2 percent of the foreign students enrolled had scholarships. Most of the students paid their own way. Shanghai also does not have detailed policies about foreign students who want to do part-time work to help pay their expenses, Zhang said. "The education authority has to begin to try solving these problems. By improving the situation little by little, I believe more students will be coming to Shanghai in the future."