The number of Chinese students going to popular overseas study destinations to pursue postgraduate studies has continued to increase over past years, a new report said.

The number of Chinese students going to the United States for postgraduate education reached 123,182 during the 2021-22 academic year, up by 3.64 percent from a year earlier, the report said.

Meanwhile, the number of students going to the United Kingdom for postgraduate studies in the 2021-22 academic year was 88,755, up by 6 percent from a year earlier, it said.

The report was released by overseas education consultancy EIC Education on Saturday in Beijing.

Business and economics are the most favored majors for Chinese students going overseas to pursue master's degrees, chosen by 42.4 percent of all students.

However, for students going abroad to study for doctoral degrees, engineering is their most favored major - chosen by 54 percent, the report said,

The report shared that around 25 percent of the students change their major when abroad to pursue postgraduate studies for reasons such as increasing their job competitiveness or choosing a major they truly enjoy.

The most popular majors for Chinese students going to the United States to study include computer sciences, finance, business analysis, economics and marketing.

Meanwhile, the most favored US universities for Chinese students include the University of Southern California, Columbia University, Boston University and Johns Hopkins University.