The number of South Korean studying in China has increased fourfold in 11 years mainly due to rising demand for Chinese language education, a government report showed Wednesday.

According to the report by the education ministry, there were 62,855 South Korean students in China last year, up 283.9 percent from 16,372 in 2001.

The increase made China the second-most popular destination for South Koreans going abroad to study, after the United States with 73,351 students last year. Canada placed a distant third with 20,658 students, closely followed by Japan (19,994) and Australia (17,256).

During the 2001-12 period, the total number of South Koreans studying abroad and particularly in the U.S. increased only 59.5 percent and 25.4 percent, respectively. (Yonhap News)