GUANGZHOU: The two Guangdong students who came top in the national college entrance examination in June celebrated on Friday when they were accepted by universities in Hong Kong.

Hu Xiaoye from Shenzhen Senior High School, who was top of the class in the biology examination, will join the University of Hong Kong. He will also be granted a scholarship worth 450,000 Hong Kong dollars ($57,500).

"I'm glad to have become a freshman of the Department of Economics and Finance at the University of Hong Kong," Hu said.

He said his wish was to become an actuary, while his favorite subjects included economics, finance and accountancy - fields in which the University of Hong Kong excels.

Meanwhile, Guangzhou No 2 High School student Pi Chengdong, who achieved the highest score in English, has also been enrolled by the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.

Guangdong's other top student in the national college entrance examination, Wang Shuyuan, who came first in physics, has also been accepted by the University of Hong Kong.

The University of Hong Kong will enroll a total of 258 students from the Chinese mainland while Hong Kong University of Science and Technology has decided to attract another 391 this year.

According to a teacher from Guangzhou's Sun Yat-sen University, universities from Hong Kong have been competing with their mainland counterparts to attract top mainland students in recent years.

By studying at Hong Kong universities, where teaching is more in line with international practices, mainland students hope to improve their chances of being employed overseas when they graduate, the teacher said.

And competition to study overseas has also become fierce in recent years.

Last year, eight Hong Kong universities and colleges that planned to enroll a total of 1,300 students attracted more than 30,000 candidates.

(China Daily 07/07/2007 page3)