Towards Global Education Hub for China In Slowbalization Era: A Cross-National Study of Scale, Structure, and Resilience on International Student Mobility

• In Event: Discourses and Issues in International Education

Proposal

Introduction
In 2024, the Chinese central government proposed establishing a globally influential education hub by 2035, enhancing the "Study in China" brand, and attracting global talent. This paper employs the "Glonacal" theory proposed by Marginson combined the “core-periphery” world system theory by Altbach to analyze the internationalization measures adopted by Chinese universities to attract international students. The analysis focuses on three dimensions within the context of the current era of de-globalization and slowbalization: competing in the global higher education market, responding to domestic higher education development needs, and adapting to local socio-economic conditions. Utilizing cross-national comparative data, the study assesses China's international standing and the challenges it faces in attracting international students. It also analyzes the primary contradictions encountered by various countries in attracting international students during this slowbalization era and proposes recommendations for China's future strategies.
Research Methods
Firstly, longitudinal cross-national comparisons from 2015 to 2024 were conducted using educational databases from international organizations and national education statistics to analyze the quantity, structure, and resilience of China's international student attraction. In view of this, this study examines the three key metrics of global talent clustering—scale, structure and resilience—by comparing international student mobility data between China and nine countries: the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Australia, and Canada. The data for this study is from UNESCO Institute for Statistics, OECD Data Explorer, Institute of International Education, QS World University Rankings and Ministry of Education and Higher Education Statistics Agency of above countries. Secondly, a questionnaire was used to survey the internationalization measures implemented by 42 Double First-Class universities in China post-pandemic. Lastly,Ten of these universities were selected for group and individual interviews with personnel from international exchange departments and student administration departments to clarify the current measures and challenges in attracting international students.
Main Findings
The scale of international students is the first important metric of an education hub.According to the data of the past ten years, the United States attracts the largest share of international students in the world, with 16% in 2024. The United Kingdom and Canada are in the second tier with a proportion of about 11~12% in 2024. The third-tier countries represented by France, Germany and Australia attract about 6% of international students. The Asian countries represented by China, Japan and South Korea recruit the smallest share. Compared with the other nine countries, China has the issue of international students deficit, which means that China still needs to improve its higher education attractiveness to overseas students.
The structure reflects the quality of international students and the attractiveness to high-level talents of a country or region. As shown by the academic level and degree types of enrolled students, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Australia have all realized that the ratio of postgraduate to undergraduate students exceeds 1. Specifically, the ratios in Germany, Italy and the United States are relatively higher, while the ratio of Japan,South Korea and China is still less than 1. It’s evident that Asian countries mainly attract undergraduate students in global student market, which still remains sub-peripheral position.
Regarding the resilience of the international student recruitment system, conclusions can be drawn by analyzing the recovery and rebound rates of international student numbers across different countries after the pandemic. Data shows that the amount of international students rebound after a minor decline in western countries like the Unites States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Australia and Canada. However, Asian countries exhibit relatively weaker resilience in attracting international students globally, because till 2024, Asian countries like Japan and China still didn’t realize total rebound. Besides, QS World University Rankings shows that, the United States has the highest number of world-class universities among the top 100. What’s more, the United States is still in the leading position as for the number of universities in STEM fields within the top 100 in QS World University Rankings by subject. The number of excellent universities and subjects is a crucial element influencing international students recruitment in China, and the elite universities in China are chasing the world-class status by enhancing scholarship offerings, expanding promotional efforts for "Study in China," improving the academic experience for international students, facilitating their integration into local communities, and enhancing global subject rankings.
Reflections
International student mobility can be influenced by various policy levers. In the process of talent attracting competition, five major contradictions are worth noticing, including: Tensions between expanding international student enrollment and maintaining quality control; Conflicts between educational internationalization and "local-first" policies; Decoupling of economic dependencies from political-diplomatic considerations; Contradictions between talent recruitment restrictions and local labor shortages; Frictions between government intervention and university autonomy. In short, the political, economic, diplomatic, cultural and educational attributes of international education become more pronounced in the collision between globalization and “deglobalization”. The tensions and management strategies are crucial to the future global landscape of talent clustering and the evolution of world education hubs.
Recommendations
Towards a global education hub for China In Slowbalization Era, China needs to enhance its capacity to cultivate and attract international students in terms of quantity, structure, and resilience, while also prudently addressing and resolving the tensions emerged in recruiting international students.

Author

• Jia Song