Chinese students turning backs on United States

She is not alone in thinking that way, as many universities outside the US are seeing a rise in Chinese student enrollment.

A study last year by New Oriental, a comprehensive education and training institution, found that interest among Chinese students in studying in the US had been declining since 2017, even as overall Chinese interest in studying abroad surged.

More students are now expressing an interest in going to the United Kingdom, rather than the US, while interest in Hong Kong and Singapore is climbing steadily, the report said.

In 2015, about 8 percent of students from the Chinese mainland expressed a desire to study in Hong Kong, but by last year, the proportion had risen to 19 percent. In 2015, only 6 percent of Chinese students said they were interested in studying in Singapore, but the proportion rose to 14 percent last year, the report said.

Canada has seen a rise in the number of Chinese students studying in the country.

Data from Axios show Chinese student enrollment at the University of Toronto has risen every year for the past decade. Some 15,700 Chinese students were studying at this institution for the 2022-23 academic year, up from about 6,000 in 2013-14.

In 2021-22, the UK saw the highest influx of Chinese students — more than 150,000 — compared with any other country. This marked a rise of 41 percent, or 44,475 students, from 2017-18 to 2021-22, data from the Higher Education Statistics Agency, which is based in the UK, show.

Now 23, He is studying data science and analytics at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University and is preparing to start her second master's program in computer science at The University of Hong Kong in the autumn.

She said she would choose Hong Kong over the US for her studies again if given the opportunity.