The Growth of International Students in China
In terms of movement direction, international education involves students who study abroad and those who come to study in China, the latter of which will be the topic of this section.
The number of international students in China has grown steadily since 2003. In contrast to the reported decline of enrollments in the USA and the UK, China’s international student market continues to strengthen. According to reports, South Korea, Japan, The United States, Vietnam and Thailand were the five biggest source countries. According to 2014 data from Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China, there were 377,054 foreign students from 203 countries or regions studying in China. In 2016, China was the third largest receiver of international students globally, with 442,773 international students. China is on track to overtake the United Kingdom as the second most popular country for international students by 2020.
Factors Attracting International Students to China
Various factors combine to make China a very desirable destination for international students. First and foremost, China boasts a significant number of world-class universities. Moreover, costs are much lower than studying in developed countries. In addition, there are more career opportunities due to China’s growing economic strength. Another factor that draws students to China is the considerably lower cost of living in China compared to most western countries. Furthermore, a huge diversity of universities and programs and many graduate and postgraduate programs offered in English also play an important role in attracting foreign students. One more important factor is concerned with the huge number of scholarships on offer from the Chinese government.
China Scholarship Council
The China Scholarship Council, shortened as CSC, is a non-profit organization of the Chinese Ministry of Education that provides support for international academic exchange with China. It offers financial support for Chinese citizens and residents to study abroad, and for foreign students and scholars to study in China. However it predominantly provides scholarships to individuals.
According to a report in Global Times in June 2018, China recently announced that it marked more than 3 billion yuan to be spent on education of international students in the country in 2018, a rise of 16.8 percent from the year before. A detailed budget report published on the Ministry of Education (MOE) website on April 13 showed that China increased its allocation for international student education in the country to 3.32 billion yuan that year, 460 million yuan more than the year before. According to People’s Daily, China has become a hub of international students, attracting larger numbers than any other Asian country in recent years. A total of 289 universities are allowed to enroll international students with government scholarship. Full scholarship covers education, administration cost and expenditure to support student activities, and could go up to 66,200 yuan, 79,200 yuan, and 99,800 yuan for undergraduates, master’s and doctoral students respectively. A statistics indicates the steady increase of foreign students who are supported with the Chinese government scholarships to study in China in recent years.
It is clear from the table that both the total number and the scholarship rate have been increasing continuously in the past eight years. As of 2018, the total number of international students has approached 500 thousand, which is the ultimate goal of international enrollment by 2020 in China.
International Chinese Language Teaching
The announcement of the establishment of the first Confucius Institute (CI) in Seoul in 2004 marked a new phase in teaching Chinese as an international language, which is considered as the worldwide Chinese language learning craze. Hanban aims to establish 1,000 Confucius Institutes by 2020.
At the 13th Confucius Institutes Conference held in December 2018, it was reported that 548 Confucius Institutes and 1,133 Confucius Classrooms had been established in 154 countries and regions, with a total of 2.1 million registered students. All of these institutes and classrooms have concentrated on language courses, other culture courses (calligraphy and Tai Chi), public lectures and film festivals.
Besides Confucius Institutes and Confucius Classrooms, Chinese is also taught in schools and universities as a foreign language in many countries and regions in the world.
With the rapid growth of China’s economy and international status, the worldwide Chinese language learning craze continues to heat up. According to an incomplete statistics, hundreds of international organizations, companies, media and world- renowned universities have Chinese websites and webpages. With the continuous cooperation and exchanges between China and the United States in recent years, there has been an upsurge in learning Chinese culture among Americans.
According to statistics, there are more than 200 words in the Oxford English Dictionary that contain Chinese origins. In fact, in daily life, many Chinese words have occupied a place in the English vocabulary system and become an indispensable part. Some typical examples include Confucius, Laozi, Tao, Tao Te Ching, Tai Chi, fengshui, yuan, taikong, taikonaut, kongfu, lianghui, guanxi, hukou, maotai, to list only some of them.
HSK: Chinese Proficiency Test
The Chinese Proficiency Test (HSK, an acronym from the Chinese pinyin) is an international standardized Chinese proficiency test for non-native speakers, including foreigners, overseas Chinese and ethnic Chinese candidates. The test is designed and developed by the Chinese proficiency test center of Beijing Language and Culture University. It includes the basic Chinese proficiency test, the junior and secondary Chinese proficiency test and the advanced Chinese proficiency test. HSK is held regularly in China and overseas every year. If the scores meet the required standards, the examinees can obtain the Chinese proficiency certificate of a corresponding level. The test is administered by the Hanban, an agency of the Ministry of Education of China.
HSK once had a complex system including eleven levels. In order to make the test (HSK) better meet the new requirements of the growing number of overseas Chinese learners for the Chinese language test, Hanban organized experts in the fields of Chinese language teaching, linguistics, psychology and educational measurement to re-develop the test on the basis of full investigation and understanding of the actual situation of overseas Chinese language teaching. It has now six levels from Level 1 to Level 6. Levels 1 and 2 only test listening and reading comprehensions while Levels 3 to 6 also include writing in addition to listening and reading. The new HSK focuses on examining the ability of candidates with a background of non-native speakers to communicate in Chinese about their life, study and work.
The HSK is held at designated test centers in China and abroad. A list of test centers can be found at the HSK website. Test dates are published annually and written tests are more frequently held than spoken ones, generally around once a month. As of 2017, there were 860 Chinese proficiency test centers in the world, including 530 overseas test centers distributed in 112 countries and 330 domestic test centers distributed in 71 cities in China. France is the largest Chinese proficiency test center in Europe.
