African students set their sights on China

Keen interest among overseas students in learning medicine in China became apparent in the late 1990s. From 1999 to 2013, more than 200,000 students traveled to the country to study medicine, accounting for about 10 percent of all those from overseas.

This year, the proportion has risen to 25 percent, Lei said.

As the foreign influx continues to rise, the government has to strike a balance between ensuring that the quality of the education provided is not being sacrificed for the sake of increased enrollment.

The Ministry of Education first published the Interim Provisions for Quality Control Standards in Undergraduate Medical Education in English for international students in 2007. This is now reviewed and published annually.

Over the past 11 years, medical schools in China have had to be assessed for their educational quality, which determines whether the schools qualify to accept international students to study medicine as part of the MBBS program.

"Since 2014, the government has been endeavoring not only to focus on increasing the number of international students, but also on giving them a better medical education," Lei said.

That switch to stressing quality, rather than quantity, may be reflected in the fall in student intake numbers over the past five years.