Fewer Chinese studying in US due to rising tensions

The number and proportion of Chinese students studying in the United States continue to decline as rising geopolitical tensions and safety concerns weigh heavily on families' decisions, according to official reports and education experts.

The 2024 Blue Paper for Chinese Overseas Students Returning to China for Employment, recently released by the Chinese Service Center for Scholarly Exchange under the Ministry of Education, shows that while the US remains a key destination for Chinese students, its dominance is fading.

In 2023, only 14.54 percent of Chinese returnees with doctoral degrees studied in the US, down from 25 percent in 2020 — a decline of more than 10 percentage points over four years, according to the blue paper.