Editor’s Note: Families of all social classes in China are searching for opportunities to send their high school or college aged children abroad. This translated article examines the recent surge in study abroad students from China, and concludes that China cannot call itself a real global power until students compete for spots in Chinese universities rather than foreign ones.

Chinese students are looking abroad for their education. The poor want to change study abroad to change their destiny. The wealthy want to study abroad to maintain their status. Millions of Chinese middle-class families compete to send their children to school abroad. Studying overseas is an important part of the new Chinese dream.

A Harmful Dream?
Mingjing News recently reported that it is no longer easy for students to find jobs in China after studying abroad. Students also face hardships while studying abroad. It is difficult for them to adapt to foreign life. In some ways, studying abroad may ruin their lives, but Chinese students still pursue their international dreams.

Chinese students have studied internationally since the 1870s. However, over the past ten years, millions of middle class families have sent their high school aged children abroad to study. The push to study abroad has become extreme.

Middle Class Anxieties
This past summer, a new Chinese TV show called “A Love for Separation (小别离),” was rated well by Chinese audiences. The drama followed three Beijing families of different social classes who send their high school students to study abroad. The three families reflect China’s new middle class and its obsession with foreign education.  

In 2015, Ministry of Education that there were 523,000 Chinese students studying abroad. This is a major increase from previous years. The large number of high school students from China studying overseas helps to account for the increase.

American Soft Power
There were 260,000 Chinese students who studied in the United States last year. 90,000 studied in Australia, 86,000 in the United Kingdom, 42,000 in Canada, and 14,000 in New Zealand.

France and Germany were popular in the past, but are now less common choices for Chinese students. France saw 25,000 Chinese students last year, while Germany had 20,000. Neighboring countries such as Japan and South Korea are growing in popularity. 89,000 studied in Japan and 38,000 in South Korea.

While it has been reported that China has risen to surpass the United States as a global economic power, China’s soft power is still far weaker. The trend of Chinese students competing for spots in American schools does not seem to be slowing down.

Only when Chinese students are no longer competing to study abroad, can China claim to truly be a powerful country.

Source: DW News

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Keywords: Chinese students abroad New Chinese dream