China's Ministry of Education (MOE) on Thursday announced that the government would send 12,000 Chinese students to study overseas in 2008, including 6,000 postgraduates.

Most of the students receiving government scholarships will study fields such as energy, resources, environment, agriculture, manufacturing, life sciences, space technology, oceanography, new materials, humanities and applied social sciences, said an MOE spokesman.

By the end of September, the government had funded a total of 34,742 Chinese to study overseas, and 97.5 percent of the 28,230 that should have returned, did so on schedule, statistics show.

The government funded about 10,000 students to study overseas in 2007, including 5,000 postgraduates.

More than 130,000 Chinese went abroad for further study in 2006, including students funded by the government and those self-financed.