Jia Qingguo calls for Beijing to attract foreign students to China
CPPCC National Committee Standing Committee Member and PKU Professor highlights dramatically decreasing number of foreign students in China.
The annual sessions of the National Committee of the 11th National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference(CPPCC) and the 11th National People's Congress are ongoing in Beijing.
Yesterday, Pekingnology shared a proposal to the CPPCC session by Jia Qingguo, Member of the Standing Committee of the 11th National Committee of the CPPCC, Professor of the School of International Studies at Peking University, and Director of the Institute for Global Cooperation and Understanding (iGCU) of Peking University.
Jia has also publicly published the other proposal in the WeChat blog of iGCU, and it touches on the same subject that Henry Huiyao Wang, the President of the Center for China and Globalization (CCG), just wrote in the South China Morning Post.
Below is a full translation. All emphasis are mine.
贾庆国:关于加大吸引外国学生来华学习力度的提案
Jia Qingguo: Proposal on Intensifying Efforts to Attract Foreign Students to Study in China
General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out the necessity of vigorously advancing the construction of the "Study in China" brand, telling China's stories well, spreading China's experiences, and making China's voice heard, to enhance the international influence and discursive power of our country's education. Promoting foreign students to study in China is an important part of our country's foreign engagement in the New Era, significant for strengthening cultural exchanges, developing friendly relations with other countries, promoting foreign trade and economic relationships, and expanding China's influence internationally.
However, in recent years, the number of foreign students, especially from developed countries, coming to study in China has sharply decreased. Looking at the scarce publicly available data, the number of American students studying in China has dropped from a peak of about 15,000 ten years ago to approximately 350 in 2023, a decline of over 90%! The situation for South Korean students coming to China to study is slightly better, but the decline is also significant. As of April 1, 2023, there were 15,857 South Korean students studying for undergraduate, graduate, or language improvement courses in China, down 78.3% from 73,240 in 2017!
Why has this situation arisen? One explanation is the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, since the lifting of pandemic restrictions, the international study abroad market has seen significant growth, essentially returning to pre-pandemic levels, clearly indicating that the COVID-19 pandemic alone cannot explain the lack of a rebound in the number of students coming to study in China. Another explanation is geopolitical reasons, such as tensions between China and Western countries like the US. However, after the lifting of pandemic restrictions, the number of Chinese students going to these countries to study has not decreased significantly but has shown signs of recovery, clearly showing that geopolitical reasons alone cannot fully explain the sharp decline in the number of foreign students coming to China.
Upon closer analysis, the main reasons for the decline in the number of foreign students coming to study in China include the following aspects:
1. Perception issues: Many [Chinese] people believe that it doesn't matter much whether foreign students come to study in China or not, and some even regard the arrival of foreign students to study in China as a use of Chinese educational resources, considering it a burden or even a risk.
2. Changes in internship and employment expectations: Recently, with the slowdown in domestic economic growth and some foreign companies reducing their operations in China, the opportunities for internships and the expectations for employment for foreign students have decreased.
3. Academic research: Issues such as the emphasis on political correctness in the anonymous review process for master's and doctoral theses increase the uncertainty for foreign students with different political and cultural backgrounds. Additionally, the absence of implementation details following the introduction of some laws concerning foreign affairs leads to confusion. For example, the recently introduced Anti-Espionage Law still lacks detailed implementation guidelines, leaving unclear what information collection and methods do not constitute a violation, leading to misunderstandings externally.
4. Problems with living convenience: Issues such as foreign students not being able to access familiar foreign websites after coming to China, difficulties with identity verification, opening bank accounts, and binding bank cards for online payments.
We need to seriously address the above situations, and for this reason, the following suggestions are proposed:
1. Raise awareness of the significance of encouraging foreign students to study in China. Seriously study the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping's speech and enhance the understanding of the significance of foreign students studying in China.
2. Improve public opinion work. Encourage various media outlets to objectively report on the study and life of foreign students in China, control the exaggeration and sensationalism of individual negative behaviors by some social media accounts operated by some individuals, and create a favorable public opinion environment for “Study in China.”
3. Enhance the expectations for internships and employment for foreign students. Further simplify the procedures for internships for foreign students in China, open up opportunities for internships and employment in non-sensitive companies and institutions for qualified foreign students, and lower the threshold for applying for work visas for graduates who studied in China.
4. Eliminate concerns about academic research. Consider conducting separate anonymous reviews for the theses of foreign students, using adherence to the Chinese constitution and laws as the standard for political judgment.
5. Quickly issue detailed implementation guidelines for relevant laws (such as the Anti-Espionage Law), clarify concepts, reduce ambiguity, and protect and encourage legitimate and compliant academic research.
6. Solve the practical problems of foreign students studying and living in China. Consider allowing registered foreign mobile phones and computers access to foreign websites [that are blocked in China], simplifying identity verification procedures, facilitating the opening of bank accounts for short-term foreigners in China, and quickly resolving difficulties faced by foreigners in using online payment systems. Swiftly introduce detailed implementation guidelines for work-study programs for foreign students during their studies in China, encourage foreign students to legally and compliantly engage in work-study programs, reduce the financial pressure on self-funded students studying in China, and further align with the international study abroad market.
7. Within the scope permitted by China’s government fiscal system, encourage universities to recruit students based on scholarships and implement scholarship programs, increase investment in short-term study programs, expand the audience for these programs, use scholarships to promote short-term study to become long-term study, and use scholarships to encourage self-funded study in China.
8. Increase efforts in overseas student recruitment. Optimize the overseas recruitment layout, and strengthen recruitment publicity.
9. The relevant government departments should regularly publish data and information on foreign students studying in China, strengthen research, and on this basis, formulate more rational policies.