Where Data Tells the Story
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Data from UNESCO shows the number of Chinese students studying in the United States has dropped in recent years, with some students pivoting towards countries in Southeast Asia. At the same time, the number of Chinese students going to study in Russia has also grown.
To an extent this data mirrors larger geopolitical shifts, such as cooling relations between Beijing and Washington, as well as warming ones between Russia and China. In terms of the latter, the trend of increasing international student mobility has continued into the academic year 2024/25, with 56,000 Chinese students enrolled at Russian universities and over 21,000 Russian students enrolled at institutions in China, according to Valery Falkov, Russia’s Minister of Science and Higher Education. Researchers at Mercator, a German-based thinktank, state that while CIS countries such as Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan still account for the biggest share of international students in Russia, China was the third biggest source there last year and was the leading country of origin for master’s students.
“The big four” study destinations, as the U.S., the UK, Australia and Canada are sometimes known, remained in the top positions between 2018 and 2023. Three of the four, however, saw declines in student numbers. This is likely partly driven by changes in immigration restrictions. As researchers at Fulcrum note, the U.S. suspended and limited the entry of Chinese students associated with China’s military and high-tech agenda in 2020, before rejecting a record 36 percent of Chinese student visa applications in 2023. Australia and Canada then similarly imposed restrictions on visa applications from Chinese students, especially on those hoping to study in perceived “sensitive” fields in science and tech. The UK is the only one of the anglophone nations bucking the trend, likely due to being perceived as more stable in terms of its policies, at least compared to the U.S. right now.
At the same time, regional neighbors are becoming more appealing to students. Not only are the global reputations of many Asian institutions improving, but studying at them is also usually more affordable than traditional destinations. This is likely a key factor in many prospective students’ decisions, especially as China continues to experience an economic slowdown. Between 2018 and 2023, Malaysia saw an increase of 273 percent in the number of Chinese students, as South Korea saw an increase of 17 percent and Hong Kong an increase of 82 percent. Thailand, in rank 12, saw an increase of 59 percent of Chinese students between 2020 (closest available data) and 2023.
UNESCO does not provide data on Singapore and Japan, which are part of the “Asian Tigers” group alongside South Korea and Hong Kong. According to an analysis by The Pie, these four countries are pushing for intra-regional mobility as a means to boost economic growth in the region.