Photo: Chinese students attend the graduation ceremony at Columbia University in New York in May, 2019. /Xinhua

China's Ministry of Education announced on Wednesday that it will take a series of measures to support students who plan to study abroad. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, visa applications and cross-border flights have been stunted. Many Chinese students have to change, suspend or even cancel their plans to study abroad. 

Online courses will be a major solution. Many universities have arranged for overseas students to take online courses in their home countries. Chinese students who take online overseas courses and couldn't reach the previous required length of stay abroad won't be affected in their overseas degree recognitions, China's Ministry of Education said.

Special exchange programs will be rolled out. Chinese universities can cooperate with overseas universities on exchange programs. Students enrolled in overseas schools can study temporarily at Chinese universities as exchange students.

More Chinese-overseas joint education programs will be held. These programs won't affect the original admission capacity of Chinese universities. Benchmarked against the teaching methods and languages of overseas education, these cooperative programs will diversify education channels and amplify education resources.

The Ministry of Education is also guiding Chinese consulates abroad to communicate with local authorities to support the studies of overseas Chinese students.

(Compiled by Wang Qin)