LAUSR

The number of international students studying for a degree program in China was approaching a quarter of a million in 2017, roughly ten times that in 2003. China, a developing country, has become one of the biggest destinations for international student mobility (ISM). Thus, how it has managed to achieve this within only one and a half decades, what it plans to do with such a success, and what that means for the world remain open for interpretation. This increase is an economical grow which demonstrates the country’s success in governance and generosity in international aid, while it is also a result of an internationalization policy of higher education which is viewed by central government as an arena for exercising soft power in world politics. It is difficult when trying to reach a persuasive conclusion without a comprehensive review of what happened in this period via a thorough examination of ISM data in a context of rapid policy change. This paper consists of four sections to identify the key driver(s) behind this sharp rise of student numbers from overseas. The first section is an introduction with a brief review of both theoretical and empirical aspects, followed by a short discussion on methodology. The second section is a review of key policy documents impacting on the development of ISM in modern China. The third section provides a general picture of ISM policy in China by analyzing official data. The final section reflects on the findings of the present study and concludes the paper.