Yan Zhen/ Shanghai Daily news

The Shanghai Education Commission is encouraging more privately owned colleges and research institutes to enroll foreign students, in the hope of doubling the number of foreign students in Shanghai by 2010, commission officials said, Shanghai Daily reported.

The number of foreigners studying in the city has grown by about 30 percent a year since 2000. Altogether 31,600 foreign passport holders were studying at 24 public universities in Shanghai by the end of last year.