Drastic Slowdown in the Number of International Students Choosing China

Almost half a million international students studied in China in 2018, according to an Apr 18 report from China's Ministry of Education. Yet that sizeable figure only represents a 0.62 percent increase on 2017 enrolment numbers, pointing towards a significant slowdown overall when compared to consistent double-digit growth figures that were seen throughout the previous decade.

According to ICEF Monitor, foreign enrolment in the country had previously grown at an annual average of 10 percent between 2006 and 2015.

Unsurprisingly, the region with the largest number of overseas students was Beijing, with 80,786, or 16.4 percent of the total. The other top five provinces were Shanghai (61,400), Jiangsu (45,778), Zhejiang (38,190), and Liaoning (27,879). 

While more than 196 countries around the world send their students to study in China (you can meet some of them right here), the bulk come from Asian countries, including South Korea, which sent 50,600 students last year, Thailand (28,608 students), Pakistan (28,023 students), and India (23,198 students).

READ: “My Plans as a Student in Beijng? To Be Genuine, Be Myself, and Stay Focused"

The Asia-heavy student population reflects strategic recruitment drives by the Chinese government, who actively seek students from trade-parter countries, offering incentives such as scholarships. 

Only some 63,000 of the half-million-odd international students in China in 2017 receive any kind of scholarship support from the Chinese government.

Despite the apparent decrease in enrollment among foreign students, China remains comfortably among the top five study destinations around the world.

The slowdown comes at the same time that record numbers of Chinese students are returning home after studying abroad. Thanks to a strong Chinese job market, government incentives, and increasingly strict visa regulations in countries such as the US, which can prevent certain Chinese students from staying in the country after graduation, some 80 percent of local students are hedging their bets on China's job market.

In 2015, we reported that international students were increasingly choosing to study in China's second- and third-tier cities over Beijing. Now it appears that China is becoming less attractive to the international student body as a whole.

Meet some of Beijing's 80,000-plus foreign students here in our interview series Wudaokou Watch.

Images: cuecc.com, the Beijinger