A new report in the UK shows international students studying there bring with them many billions of dollars in economic benefits for the country. The number of Chinese students in Britain far outnumber any other nationality. But critics of new government immigration targets say many foreign students could soon be put off attending Britain's top universities, which could hurt the UK's economy as it prepares to leave the European Union. CGTN's Paul Barber reports.

Lunchtime at the University of London. Students are sampling street cuisine from across the globe. And many of them are themselves from the other side of the world - and pleased to be living and learning here.

STEPHANIE YU STUDENT FROM HONG KONG SAR "They are very welcoming to us to join them and they're so friendly with us and always encouraging us."

LIU TING STUDENT FROM BEIJING "It's cool because you can get the top education resources."

NICHOLAS STUDENT FROM SINGAPORE "People are really friendly to all kinds of different cultures. So they don't push you aside just because you're Asian or you're different. I guess that's a good experience for me."

PAUL BARBER LONDON "They're just a few of the some-230 thousand overseas students who come to study in the UK every year and they come from China more than any other country. New figures show they're worth nearly 140 thousand dollars EACH to the economy while they're here. Because don't forget not only do they pay much higher tuition fees than British students, they spend a lot on things like books, entertainment, food and transport."

The Higher Education Policy Institute has just released a report calculating the cost versus the benefit of hosting international students here. And they found a net gain for the UK economy of nearly 30 billion dollars. But the British government includes students in its overall immigration targets, which it's planning to reduce. University leaders say this will make it harder for them to attract enough students from overseas.

NICK HILLMAN, DIRECTOR HIGHER EDUCATION POLICY INSTITUTE "My dream is that they would change the targets so that there is no target on international students so that we can go on recruiting more of them because the students benefit and Britain benefits."

And many politicians from Prime Minister Theresa May's Conservative party agree, including this chairman of a top parliamentary committee.

TOM TUGENDHAT, CHAIRMAN FOREIGN AFFAIRS SELECT COMMITTEE, UK PARLIAMENT "What does 'global Britain' mean if it isn’t to be open to such opportunities? And that's why I'm absolutely determined that we should make sure our universities are able to get the best and the brightest from around the world."

The government says there's no limit to the number of genuine international students who can come here to study. This former immigration minister says removing students from overall targets won't make a difference.

MARK HARPER CONSERVATIVE MP & FORMER IMMIGRATION MINISTER "I think the real conversation that we should have is about how do we make our offer and how do we make Britain more attractive to students across the world - particularly important as we leave the European Union."

However universities say PERCEPTIONS are everything, and many foreign students could soon be put off coming. But for now for these students at least - life in the UK still tastes pretty good. Paul Barber, CGTN, London.