More pragmatic measures need to be taken to attract foreign students to China, such as simplifying their internship application procedures, allowing qualified foreign students to work at certain "non-sensitive" enterprises and public institutions, and lowering the work visa thresholds for foreign college graduate applicants, a political advisor told the Global Times, amid a deep decline in the number of foreign students in recent years, especially from developed countries.
Jia Qingguo, a member of the Standing Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and a professor with the School of International Studies at Peking University, highlighted the dive in the number of foreign students by pointing out that the number of US students in China was only 350 in 2023, declining over 90 percent from the peak of 15,000 students a decade ago.
Jia submitted two proposals at the two sessions this year, with one suggesting that China double down on its efforts to attract foreign students.
"From a long-term perspective, it is very important to make it easier for foreigners to visit China and vice versa. Otherwise, negative views of each other will prevail, fueling misunderstandings that could weigh on diplomatic exchanges and economic and trade cooperation," Jia said, listing a number of measures aimed at reversing the trend.
Jia suggested that authorities take measures to make life more convenient for foreign students, involving aspects such as identity authentication, opening bank accounts, and online payments. There is also a great deal of room to further lift their expectations on employment and internships in China.
China has been taking a slew of concrete efforts to facilitate visits by foreigners. The State Council, China's cabinet, released a notice on Thursday, asking banks and payment and clearing entities to strengthen cooperation to continuously improve and expand mobile payment services, with a particular focus on improving mobile communication and payment services for foreigners coming to China.
