asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science (1) when she anticipates that the first batch of Chinese students who come to the United Kingdom as a result of the agreement that she reached during the course of her visit to China in 1978 will commence their studies;(2) whether she will make a statement about the arrangements that have been made for the financing, distribution and care of the Chinese students coming to the United Kingdom as a result of the agreement reached during the course of her visit to China in 1978.

Some aspects of the arrangements are still being discussed with the Chinese authorities and a delegation of senior academic staff from this country under the leadership of Sir Harry Pitt is at present in China with a view to assessing the relative standards of British and Chinese courses.Meanwhile the British Council has received a number of applications from research students and undergraduates for admission in 1979–80 and has made approaches to university departments on behalf of the research students.