The 2001 China International Higher Education Exhibition Tour will kick off on Saturday on a five-city run, which will include stops in Beijing (February 17-18), Qingdao (February 20-21), Shanghai (February 24-25), Xi'an (February 27-28) and Chengdu (March 3-4).

Sponsored by the Chinese Service Centre for Scholarly Exchange under the Ministry of Education, the event has attracted more than 160 education institutions and universities from 22 countries and regions, including Britain, Canada, the Netherlands, France and Germany, said Shao Wei, deputy director of the centre. It is the third continuous year the centre has hosted the exhibition. Last year the number of exhibition-goers was estimated at more than 100,000, Shao said.