The US government has recently launched an initiative to boost the number

The US government has recently launched an initiative to boost the number of American students in China.

The 100,000-strong initiative hopes to better prepare the next generation of Americans to deal with an increasingly complex US-China relationship.

However, some practical constraints stand in the way.

The initiative was announced by US President Barack Obama in 2009, and launched by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton the following year.

Given the strategic importance of US-China relations, the plan is to dramatically increase the number of American students studying in China.

Donations come from the private sector, which are matched with American universities that have existing or plans to start study abroad programmes with China.

With over 14,000 American students currently studying in China, the plan is to increase that to 25,000 every year, and in four years time, to reach 100,000 students.

The American initiative has also been supported by the Chinese government, who had committed 20,000 scholarships for Americans to study in China, whether for short or long-term degree and language programs.

For some American students already in China, many say they would have come even without the initiative.

Some ethnic Chinese-Americans have chosen China to find out more about their heritage.

Right now, only 1 per cent of American college students choose to study overseas, and among them, less than 5 per cent choose to come to China, with many preferring European destinations.

More also needs to be done to increase the diversity of American students in China.

Source AP