BEIJING, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) -- Opportunities for students from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan to receive higher education on the mainland kept rising in the 13th Five Year Plan period (2016-2020), during which about 45,000 of them studied at mainland universities.

The number of mainland universities that can enroll Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan students has risen to more than 400, out of which 225 are eligible to offer postgraduate programs, Liu Jin, an official with the Ministry of Education told a press conference Tuesday.

Liu added that nearly 1,800 projects received funding support from the ministry's program for exchanges of teachers and students between higher education institutions on the mainland and those in Hong Kong and Macao from 2016 to 2019. Such exchanges benefited 56,000 people, Liu said.