Why China education attracts international students

Published: June 26,2023

By Gerald Mbanda

Shanghai University of International Business and Economics. Graduation ceremony, June 20, 2023.

Photo credit. @ Gerald Mbanda

On June 20^th, I was in Shanghai with my family where we attended a graduation ceremony at Shanghai University of International Business and Economics (SUIBE). The reason for our presence was that my son was among hundreds of international students from various countries who were graduating. Before I left my country for China, I talked to a friend called Andrew whose son had previously graduated from China. I asked him why he chose to send his son to a university in China and he told me that, “In China, I was sure that my son would not be lured into taking drugs because the country does not tolerate such kind of behavior.” Andrew shares the same view with many parents from other parts of the world.   

In 2018, the Chinese government launched “Double First-Class Initiative” aiming to build more world-class universities and disciplines. Chinese universities, such as Tsinghua University and Peking University, have become among top world-renowned, attracting international students from all over the world. With the globalization of the world economy, countries around the world are striving to internationalize their higher educational systems in order to attract more international students.

Apart from offering quality education, Chinese Universities charge affordable fees than U.S or European universities.   Many African students are now turning to China Universities which signifies a reverse trend where a decade ago, the preferred destination was USA and UK. China is not only attracting African students only but also from other parts of the world like Asia, Europe, Oceania and Americas. According to available statistics, the rate of growth of African students going to China for study abroad is said to have grown by 258% between 2011 and 2017, compared with a growth rate of 30% for the US and declines of minus-2% for France and minus-24% for the United Kingdom.

Since 2000, when the Forum on China Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) was initiated, the Chinese government pledged financial support to provide scholarships to thousands of African students to study in China.  Additionally self-sponsored students also prefer China Universities for different reasons. China is a peaceful country with no acts of violence like school shootings, police brutality or armed gangs who can be a danger to students. 

The interaction between African and Chinese students prepares the future   generation of scholars and elites who understand each other’s culture and will combine their knowledge and skills to improve China-Africa cooperation. The fact that China is the second largest economy in the world, some students learn Mandarin to enable them do business with China upon graduation.  Promoting China-Africa traditional friendship through youth exchanges has been an important aspect of the growth of China-Africa relations.

International students are impressed by China’s rapid development and believe that it is worth emulating. They want to learn as much as they can so that they can transfer that knowledge, contributing to the economic growth of their home countries. While some students hold ambitions of working for Chinese companies or the government sector, many also expected to return to their previous, home-country jobs with newly acquired skills. My son before graduation told me that headmired the hard working nature of the Chinese peopleand this greatly inspired him to work hard to accomplish his studies and also to set goals for hisfuture ambitions. 

Gerald Mbanda is a researcher and Publisher on China and Africa