BEIJING -- There were 17,000 overseas students in Chinese higher vocational colleges in 2018, according to an annual report on the quality of higher vocational education Thursday.

The report, released by the Shanghai Academy of Educational Sciences and MyCOS, an educational research company, found 595 Chinese teaching standards for higher vocational education have been adopted abroad.

Countries along the Belt and Road became major sources for overseas higher vocational students and destinations for Chinese higher vocational colleges to establish branches, said the report.

Up to 1,344 higher vocational colleges released annual reports on education quality last year, the report showed.