Xs goal of drawing 50,000 US students to China ambitious’

Both China and the US have tried boosting tertiary student exchanges to promote better understanding between both sides. The Straits Times looks at how continued big power rivalry and harsh rhetoric have hampered these efforts.

- Goh Yan Han

Chinese President Xi Jinping wants to welcome 50,000 young Americans to the country on exchange and study programmes over the next five years, but he may not get his wish.

A tense relationship between the two powers and negative portrayals of either side in both countries' media are among the hurdles.

The strict measures and sweeping government policies from a Covid-19 pandemic do not help, while difficulty in obtaining work visas post-graduation in China has also played a part, students and academics told The Straits Times.

Mr Xi's 50,000 target, announced during his visit to the US in November 2023, was brought up during US Secretary of State Antony Blinken's visit to China in April.

The latter emphasised the point of strengthening people-to-people ties while Mr Xi reiterated his hope for more American students.

But following the sharp drop in numbers after the Covid-19 pandemic, reaching the highs of more than a decade ago when there were 15,000-odd American students in China seems "extremely ambitious", said Dr Harris Doshay, assistant director of research and writing at University of California San Diego's 21st Century China Centre.

"Geopolitical tensions and negative media coverage about China in US press have made it a less appealing place for students to go, despite its obvious importance, and Chinese leadership can't manufacture demand in American college students," he added.

Data from an Open Doors report, published by New York-based nonprofit Institute for International Education, shows that in the academic year starting 2018, there were 11,639 US students in China. But in 2021, the figure was 211.

To reach the target, numbers need to return to pre-pandemic levels but academics said this seems unlikely.