Summary:

The Chinese Ministry of Education recently released statistics on international students in China and Chinese students going abroad. The number of outbound students from Mainland China grew by 4.0% to 544,500, while the number of international students in China rose by 11.4% to around 442,800.

Outbound student numbers reach a new high, but growth is declining

In 2016, the total number of students leaving China to study overseas reached a new record high of 544,500. Around 31% of these students went overseas to study bachelor’s degree programmes, while about 36% went to study at the master’s degree or PhD level. As in previous years, the large majority of students are self-funded; the proportion of students receiving government funded stayed relatively steady at around 8.5%.

This total represents an increase of around  20,800 more students going overseas compared to 2015, or growth of around 4.0%. However, this growth is significantly slower than that seen in previous years. Over the previous 5-year period (2010 to 2015), the average annual rate of growth (CAGR) was 13 per cent

This growth is slower than the growth of Chinese students to the UK. The UK’s market share increased to around 14.0% in 2016, compared to 13.4% in 2015, based on the number of Tier 4 visas issued to Mainland Chinese students.

International students in China continue to show strong growth.

Aside from being the world’s top source of international students, the Ministry of Education reports that China has now become the largest destination for students seeking overseas studies in Asia. There were around 442,800 international students studying in China in 2016, including around 210,000 studying for Chinese higher education qualifications (including higher vocational diplomas, bachelor’s degrees, master’s degrees and PhDs). The remainder were studying on exchange or short-term courses, language schools, or at the school or pre-school levels.

This represents very rapid growth over the last few years. The total number of international students in China was up by around 11% over last year or more than 51% compared to five years earlier. The number of students aiming at Chinese HE qualifications grew even faster, up 14% in 2016 or 77% over the last five years. Growth was faster still at the postgraduate level and in courses other than Chinese Language.

In terms of regional origin, students from Africa saw by far the strongest growth, up 24% in 2016 with almost three times as many African students as five years ago. The Ministry of Education also noted particularly strong growth in the “Belt and Road” countries, with Pakistan, Indonesia and Thailand having the fastest growth among major sending countries.

Analysis by Kevin Prest and Xiaoxiao Liu

The drop in China’s outbound growth may be concerning to UK educational institutions. A combination of declining economic growth rates, falling student-age population and better domestic HE opportunities is having an increasingly negative effect on the number of Chinese students going overseas, and this number is likely to reach a peak in the not-too-distant future and then start to decline. However, UK visa figures show that the country’s education sector is still holding its own despite the difficult environment.

China is also becoming an increasingly important competitor in other overseas markets. An increasing number of Chinese universities offer English-medium degree courses aimed at international students, which are particularly popular in developing countries in Asia and beyond. The Ministry of Education strongly encourages this form of internationalisation, and other government policy is also supportive – for example, China recently liberalised its visa policy to allow graduates with a Masters degree or above to stay and work in China without the previously-required two years work experience.

Sources:

1. https://news.cgtn.com/news/3d516a4d33636a4d/share_p.html?t=1488377994590

2. http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2017-03/02/content_28400863.htm

3. http://www.moe.gov.cn/jyb_xwfb/s5147/201703/t20170302_297870.html

4. http://www.moe.gov.cn/jyb_xwfb/xw_fbh/moe_2069/xwfbh_2017n/xwfb_170301/170301_sfcl/201703/t20170301_297675.html