导读：中国一年一度的高考又开始，投考大学的高中生人数较往年下降，高考人数连续第四年下降。
Applications for college admission dropped for four consecutive years in China as fewer high school students seek higher learning.
Some 9.15 million students have registered to take the annual national college entrance exams on Thursday and Friday, 1.35 million fewer than in 2008, which represents the fourth straight year of decreased registration.
The shrinking number of applicants for higher learning is a result of decreased high school student population as well as a growing interest in studying abroad for college education, analysts said.
A newly-released report on Chinese college enrollment shows that the number of Chinese students going abroad for further study has been growing at an annual rate of over 20 percent in the past four years, and there has been an obvious increase in the percentage of younger applicants.
Chinese students usually take college entrance exams at the age of 18 after completing 12 years of primary and secondary school education.
Some high school students opted to learn professional skills at technical or vocational schools rather than scrapping for college seats via make-or-break college entrance exams after graduation.
