What with many if not all of the world's nations and citizens fascinated and wanting to work with China and its residents, the country has started to work around plans of setting up overseas university campuses in a bid to further catapult its growing power.

China has instituted an off-university campus of Soochow University in Laos, and has plans to expand the system in Malaysia as well as with a British university in London.

"The Chinese government and its universities have been very ambitious in the reform and internationalization of Chinese higher education," Mary Gallagher, director of the Center of Chinese Studies at University of Michigan, told AP.

"This is partly about increasing China's soft power, increasing the number of people who study the Chinese language and are knowledgeable about China from the Chinese perspective."

Although Chinese universities in foreign countries do offer teachings, these are mostly language lessons catered to the overseas Chinese population. In recent years however, the Chinese government has started to offer Chinese culture and language.

According to Chen Mei, an official from Soochow University, the Laos branch seeks to raise funds to establish a full-fledged campus with 5,000 students.

"The national policy wants us to go out, as the internationalization of education comes with the globalization of economy," Ms Chen said.

But then, China might be rushing all these all too soon.

"I think that China's top universities have sufficient work to do at home that they do not need to expand into the risky and often expensive world of branch campuses outside of China," Philip G. Altbach, an expert on international higher education at Boston College, told AP. "China's global influence and prestige in higher education is best served by strengthening its universities at home and offering a 'world class' education to Chinese students and expanded numbers of overseas students."