Keosakoun Sounaly, a student from Laos, studies Chinese at Guangxi University. Keosakoun is one of a large number of students from ASEAN member countries who study in China for the chance of a better career after graduation. China Daily / Lan Lin

The number of students in China from member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations has increased in tandem with bilateral trade.

Trade between China and ASEAN rose from $100 billion in 2004 to $400 billion last year.

The number of ASEAN students has increased by more than tenfold to about 40,000 over the same period, according to an estimate from the China-ASEAN Expo Secretariat in Nanning, capital of the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region.

"The fact that more and more ASEAN students come to study in China, thanks to the Chinese government's support, will provide reliable human foundations for the sustainable development of bilateral trade", said Zheng Junjian, the secretariat's head.

The 10th China-ASEAN Expo ended on Sept 4 in Nanning, marking the tenth anniversary of the establishment of the China-ASEAN strategic partnership.

The expo saw 167 project contracts in various fields worth $15.87 billion signed in four days. Some 80 percent of the 1,294 exhibition booths of ASEAN countries hired students from member countries studying in Nanning.

Sandro Topan Se, an Indonesian businessman dealing in art, said, "I am happy to see some Indonesian students coming to help us as interpreters and volunteers. It's like doing business at home."

Zhang Ruyi, a rice dealer from Phnom Penh, the Cambodian capital, runs her business in Nanning and employs two Cambodian students.

She said: "The two students are very important for my business. They are fluent in Chinese and know how to market the rice to Chinese consumers."

Wtechai, a student from the Thai capital Bangkok who is studying tourism at Guangxi Normal University in Guilin, said: "The Chinese language is the most important foreign language in my country. I regard Chinese as my second mother tongue.

"Chinese culture and that of Southeast Asia share something in common. This is the advantage for businessmen from both sides to work with each other."

Guangxi University and Guangxi University for Nationalities in Nanning, along with Guangxi Normal University in Guilin are the three biggest universities in Guangxi receiving students from ASEAN countries.

He Longqun, president of Guangxi University for Nationalities, said: "The ASEAN students make the campus more international. The university pays special attention to create a campus rich in Chinese culture to help ASEAN students adapt to their life in China."