THE WIDENING OF COLLEGE ENROLLMENT

As can be seen from the charts， China's higher education， with the rapid growth of its GDP （gross domestic product）， is also developing very fast. There were only about 110 thousand college students when New China was bornin 1949， while the number hit 3.5 million 50 years later in 1998. And what impresses us most is the college recruitment of 1999——1.56 million， which is 44% higher than that of the previous year——1.08 million in 1998.

　　Several factors contribute to the booming of China's higher education. First， China's rapid economic develop ment lays the base. In 1952， China'sGDP was only 67.9 billion yuan. In 1998， the figure soared to 7.94 trillion. Second， the Chinese government， counting on education to be another force to significantly further its economy， has made a series of preferential policies to quicken the development of higher education. One of the measures taken， for example， is the widening of college recruit ment starting from 1999.

　　Seeing the education boost today， I have every reason to look forward to a still brighter future for China's higher education. I'm sure China will continue to in crease college enrollment in the years to come.