Visit

　　Numbers of visitors that London received from China has more than doubled over the past five years according to ONS data – although numbers from China are still relatively small compared with those from Europe and the US. Since 2001 the rate of growth in visitors from China to London (and the UK) was over three times the rate of growth in overall visitor numbers.

　　Provisional data for 2007 show that 82,000 visitors to London from China spent a total of £63 million.

　　Chart 1

　　Visitors and visitor spending in London from China

　　Source: ONS International Passenger Survey

　　Study

　　Students from China now form the biggest foreign student population in London – their numbers having increased rapidly over recent years. In the academic year 2006-07, almost 8,000 students from China were studying in London – 9% of the total non-UK student population.Oxford Economics estimate that Chinese students in London contributed £110 million to the UK capital’s economy in 2005/06, principally through fees and subsistence spending.

　　The chart below shows the growth in Chinese students in London since 2001 and their overtaking in numbers from Greece and the United States, who previously provided the largest international student populations.