Leading destinations for Chinese students studying abroad 2015 and 2022

According to an educational survey conducted between January and February 2022, the United Kingdom was the most attractive destination for Chinese students wishing to study abroad. Back in 2015, North America and Australia were generally more attractive to Chinese students than Europe and Asia, a situation that has changed today.

The rising demand for international education

In recent years, receiving an international education was no longer a niche reserved for the affluent class in China. Thanks to the country's strong economic growth in the last few decades, more families can afford the expense of studying abroad. Between 2000 and 2019, the number of Chinese students studying abroad increased 17-fold, to more than 700,000 in 2019.

The increasing number of international students from China's expanding middle-class has led to a diversification of study abroad destinations. More affordable programs such as a one-year master's in the United Kingdom, and programs in Japan, Germany and France emerged as the preferred choices for many Chinese students.

The United Kingdom as an attractive destination

Despite a significant drop in the overall number of Chinese students studying abroad due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent travel restrictions, more than 150,000 Chinese students studied in the UK in the 2021/22 academic year. This popularity can be attributed to a combination of strong rankings in university league tables, along with relatively inexpensive fees compared to those in the United States and Australia.