An overview of study of foreigners in China during the 40 years of reforms period (1978-2018)

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This article examines the processes of Study of foreigners in China during the period from 1978 to 2018 historically and comparatively. The achievements of Study of foreigners in China during this time mainly manifested in four aspects, with four weaknesses present. The major characteristics of Study of foreigners in China are shown in the overall scale, degree education and the number of self-funded students. The review of the policy documents related to Study of foreigners in China during the 40 years especially help to better understand the development of Study of foreigners in China. The resulting conclusion of this study shows that it is necessary to upgrade the quality and efficiency of Study of foreigners in China for better competitiveness of Chinese education in the world.

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Study in china, reform and opening up, internationalization of education, education quality, education competitiveness

Короткий адрес: https://sciup.org/147244498

IDR: 147244498   |   DOI: 10.25205/1818-7919-2024-23-4-139-150

Текст обзорной статьи An overview of study of foreigners in China during the 40 years of reforms period (1978-2018)

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The year 1978 was a very special moment in the history of New China when the great “reform and opening up” began. “Reform and opening up is a great revolution in the history of the development of the Chinese people and the Chinese nation” 1. Through this great reform and opening up, China has achieved three great transformations: from a highly centralized planned economic system to the socialist market economic system full of vigor and vitality, from a closed and semi-closed society to a fully open one, and from a society experiencing lack of food and clothing to one that is well-off. China's two general national policies are: one is to adhere to economic construction as the centre, the other is to adhere to reform and opening up; “reform and opening up has become the most prominent feature and the most magnificent atmosphere in contemporary China” 2. With the historical reform and opening up in the background, ‘Study in China’ has been vigorously developed: it has scaled from small to large, majors from few to many, students from underdeveloped countries to developed countries, and from scholarship students to self-funded students, management from differentiation to convergence.

In the 21st century, Chinese scholars carried out careful research on China’s education within the Study in China concept. These studies mainly focused on two aspects: to research the history of Study in China, and study its policies and regulations. In terms of its history, scholars studied the development of educational modernization in China during four time periods: the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties, the late Qing Dynasty, the Republic of China and the People’s Republic of China in the order of historical development [Tian Zhengping, 2004], focusing mainly on sorting out and examining important documents, policies, and regulations of Study in China since the founding of the People's Republic of China, and on historical research [Li Tao, 2000; Yu Fuzeng, Jiang Bo, Zhu Xiaoyu, 2001; Yu Fuzeng 2009; Cheng Jiafu, Huang Meixu, 2008; Cheng Jiafu, Chen Songlin, Zhao Jinpo, 2012; Li Peng, Tang Jing, 2015; Li Peng, 2016; Jia Zhaoyi, Wei Liqing, 2019; Wei Qiang, Fu Yihui, Dong Haijun, 2020; Wei Liqing, Chang Cuiming, 2021]. Systematic studies were conducted on the educational policies and systems of Study in China [Guo Xiujing, Wang Jixia, 2008; Chen Yu, Qu Tiehua, 2016; Wang Yongxiu, Xie Shaohua, 2017], which raised issues that should be paid attention to when formulating policies. However, there are not many achievements in the field of Study in China in the past 40 years since the reform and opening up. What is the overall situation of Study in China in the past 40 years? What are the main achievements? What are the weaknesses? What are the major characteristics? The research on these issues is beneficial to the advancement of China's education internationalization.

Overview of Study in China from 1978 to 2018

The development of Study in China is closely related to the improvement of China’s international political environment, economic development and the progress of higher education since the reform and opening up. On 18 March 1978, Deng Xiaoping clearly pointed out in his speech at the opening ceremony of the China National Science and Technology Conference that “any nation or country needs to learn from the strengths of other nations and countries and learn from other people’s advanced science and technology” [Deng Xiaoping, 1993, p. 91]. Following this, China began to expand the scale of sending Chinese students to study abroad, especially to countries with relatively advanced science and technology, and also began to accept international students from developed countries. At that time, there were only 42 majors and 23 schools open for international students [Li Tao, 2000, p. 884]. The development of Study in China from 1978 to 2018 can be clearly seen from the changes in the number of students enrolled, the number of schools, and the number of countries and regions of the international student sources (see Table 1).

Table 1

International students coming to China (1978–2018)

Иностранные студенты, приехавшие в Китай (1978–2018)

Таблица 1

Year

Students in total

Scholarship students

Self-supportin g students

Universities & colleges

Countries and regions

1978

1236

1207

29

23

72

1979

1593

1278

315

35

72

1980

2097

1389

708

35

72

1981

3440

1631

1809

35

72

1982

4535

1759

2776

35

72

1983

5461

2066

3395

35

72

1984

6144

2593

3551

55

72

1985

7727

3251

4476

55

72

1986

8754

4091

4663

55

72

1987

5646

4593

1053

55

72

1988

5835

4596

1239

55

111

1989

6379

3871

2508

120

124

1990

7494

3684

3810

120

112

1991

11972

3630

8342

120

112

1992

14024

3389

10635

120

112

1993

16871

3053

13818

120

112

1994

25586

2969

22617

120

112

1995

35759

3001

32758

283

154

1996

41211

4307

36904

283

154

1997

43712

4677

39035

335

160

1998

43084

5088

37996

339

164

1999

44711

5211

39511

356

164

2000

52150

5362

46788

344

166

2001

61869

5841

56028

363

169

2002

85829

6074

79755

395

175

2003

77715

6153

71562

352

175

2004

110844

6715

104129

420

178

2005

141087

7218

133869

464

179

2006

162695

8484

154211

519

184

2007

195503

10151

185352

544

188

2008

223499

13516

209983

592

189

2009

238184

18245

219939

610

190

2010

265090

22390

242700

620

194

End of the Table 1

Year

Students in total

Scholarship students

Self-supportin g students

Universities & colleges

Countries and regions

2011

292611

25687

266924

660

194

2012

328330

28768

299562

690

200

2013

356499

33322

323177

746

200

2014

377054

36943

340111

775

203

2015

397635

40600

357035

811

202

2016

442773

49022

393751

829

205

2017

489200

58600

430600

935

204

2018

492185

63041

429144

1004

196

Note : The data for 1978–1997 comes from [Yu Fuzeng, 2009], the data for 1998–2015 comes from the Ministry of Education's official website “China Education Yearbook” 1999–2015, the data for 2016, 2017, 2018 comes from the official website of the Ministry of Education.

From 1978 to 2018, Study in China could be generally divided into four stages: the recovery stage (1978–1988), the standardized management stage (1989–1998), the rapid growth stage (1999–2008), the quality and efficiency improvement stage (2009–2018). Even now, Study in China is still in the quality and efficiency improvement stage.

The recovery stage means that Study in China almost returned to the level before 1966. At this stage, the number of international students, the number of universities and colleges which accepted international students, the number of countries and regions where students came from, and the majors open to international students were relatively low. Most of the international students were scholarship students, and few came at their own expense. The management experience of international students was insufficient, and the system related to the management of international students was very behind and not complete.

The standardized management stage meant that with the increase in the number of international students (43,084 by 1998, 34.86 times the number in 1978, and the number of self-funded students in 1998 was 7.47 times that of the scholarship students), the admission institutes increased (339) and the number of countries and regions increased too (164). As a result of this however, Study in China headed for various problems and challenges in management, and it was more and more necessary to regulate the system in order to achieve better sustainable development. In terms of enrollment, in 1989, the State Education Commission of China promulgated the “ Regulations on Enrolling Self-funded International Students ”, which carried out corresponding regulations on the management of Study in China in colleges and universities. Since 1989, the “Approval and Registration Form for Foreign Students to Study in China” (JW202 for short) was renamed as “Application Form for Foreign Students to Study in China” , and in 1993, it was further renamed as “Visa Application Form for Foreign Students to Study in China” in both Chinese and English to make the name of the form more standardized and consistent with its function. In terms of degree conferring, in 1991, the Academic Degrees Committee of the State Council issued a notice on the “Trial Measures for Conferring Chinese Degrees by Institutions of Higher Education to International Students” which made degree awarding work more formalized and standardized. In terms of international Chinese teaching, the State Education Commission successively issued a series of management measures. The “Chinese Proficiency Test (HSK) Outline” was promulgated in 1989, the “Measures for the Qualification of Teachers of Chinese as a Foreign Language” was promulgated in 1990, and the “Chinese Proficiency Test (HSK) Measures” was promulgated in 1992. In this way, the international Chinese proficiency grading standards and examination system were established, and China's international Chinese education entered a new period of standardized development.

From 1999 to 2008, with the gradual improvement of management and systems, Study in China entered a stage of rapid growth, which was mainly manifested in four aspects. First, the number of international students increased significantly (see Table 2–4). Second, the number of self-financed international students grew substantially. In 2008, the number of self-funded students exceeded 200,000 for the first time, also doubling that in 2004 of the first year over 100,000, indicating that China had become an important destination for international students wanting to study abroad. Third, the number of colleges and universities accepting international students increased significantly, almost 26 times the number of colleges and universities that accepted international students in 1978, indicating that Chinese colleges and universities attached great importance to the internationalization of education and the international education ability was promoted. Fourth, the number of source countries and regions grew substantially. By 2008, the number of countries and regions of Study in China reached 189, nearly covering all the member states of the United Nations.

Table 2

Changes in the number of international students (1999–2008)

Таблица 2

Изменение количества иностранных студентов

(1999–2008)

Year

Total

Growth rate over the previous year (%)

1999

44711

/

2000

52150

16.6

2001

61869

18.6

2002

85829

38.7

2003

77715

–9.5

2004

110844

42.6

2005

141087

27.3

2006

162695

15.3

2007

195503

20.2

2008

223499

14.3

Note : In the past 10 years, due to the impact of the outbreak of SARS in 2003, the number of students enrolled decreased compared with the previous year, however 2004 ushered in a retaliatory growth and the growth rates in other years reached double digits, obviously fast growing.

Table 3

Changes in the number of degree international students (1999–2008)

Изменение количества иностранных студентов, получивших дипломы (1999–2008)

Таблица 3

Year

Degree Students

Growth rate over the previous year (%)

Percentage of total (%)

1999

11479

/

25.6

2000

13703

19.3

26.2

2001

16650

21.5

26.9

2002

21055

37.0

24.5

End of the Table 3

Year

Degree Students

Growth rate over the previous year (%)

Percentage of total (%)

2003

24616

26.4

31.6

2004

31166

26.6

28.1

2005

44851

43.9

31.7

2006

54859

22.3

33.7

2007

68213

24.3

34.8

2008

80005

17.29

35.8

Table 4

Changes in the number of graduate students (1999–2008)

Изменения в количестве выпускников (1999–2008)

Таблица 4

Year

Graduates

Proportion of the total number of degree students (%)

No.

Proportion of self-supporting (%)

1999

2896

61.2

25.2

2000

3251

60.0

23.7

2001

3571

57.8

21.4

2002

4247

59.1

20.1

2003

5034

61.1

20.4

2004

5815

61.2

18.6

2005

7111

65.2

15.8

2006

8643

64.8

15.7

2007

10846

64.9

15.9

2008

14281

60.3

17.9

During the ten years from 1999 to 2008, Study in China showed rapid growth. However, compared with the major countries for international students in the world (such as the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Russia), Study in China was still at the “primary stage of development, mainly due to three reasons: first, the majority of international students who were taught alone, second, an effective knowledge assessment system was not established, third, a practical Chinese language training and assessment system was not yet built [Yu Fuzeng, 2009, pp. 271–275].

The so-called improvement of quality and efficiency meant that a key goal was to improve the quality of talent training for international students, and to cultivate more knowledgeable and friendly Chinese talents. During the stage of improving quality and efficiency, the Ministry of Education of China, as the competent education department, did a lot of work at the national level, which had a relatively large impact in the following three aspects 3. First, a complete policy chain to protect the rights and interests of international students was set up. In 2017, the “Regulations on the Management of School Enrollment and Cultivation of International Students” and the “Notice on Matters Related to Allowing Outstanding Foreign College Graduates to Work in China” were successively issued. The second was to pay close attention to quality and create an upgraded version of “Study in China”. In 2018, the “Quality Specification for Higher Education for International Students (Trial)”

was issued, which required the realization of a unified standard teaching management and examination system across the country, the establishment of quality certification for Study in China organized by a third-party, gradually improving the construction of the quality assurance system of Study in China. The third was to elevate the service level and enhance the sense of integration of international students into Chinese society. Since 2013, the Ministry of Education of China held a series of branded activities such as “Sports and Culture Competition for Overseas Students in China” and “Experience China”, allowing international students to have in-depth natural, cultural and social experiences in China.

The main achievements of Study in China from 1978 to 2018

From 1978 to 2018, Study in China progressed step by step. Over the course of forty years, the cause has been undertaken from generation to generation, and great achievements have been made. It is mainly manifested in the following four aspects.

First, an open education system for Study in China has been established. First of all, the autonomy of the enrollment of international students has been delegated by the Ministry of Education to individual colleges and universities. Secondly, the number of colleges and universities that can accept international students has greatly increased, from 23 in 1978 to 1,004 in 2018, covering all parts of mainland China. Thirdly, almost all disciplines and all majors are open to international students. Finally, the idea of running schools internationally is deeply rooted in the minds of the people, and the internationalization of education has been widely recognized by the Chinese educational community.

Second, the scale of international students is expanding rapidly. In 1978, there were only 1,236 international students enrolled in Chinese universities, but in 2018 it reached 492,185; an increase of almost 400 times. In 1978, there were only 23 colleges and universities allowed to enroll international students in China, but in 2018, there were 1,004 colleges and universities that enrolled international students; nearly 44 times growth.

Third, the management of international students is standardized and orderly. By 2018, the management of international students had been undertaken by each university in accordance with Chinese laws and school regulations, the management from preferential treatment to convergence meaning that the international students are treated almost the same as Chinese students. The admitted were mainly either scholarship students or those studying at their own expense. The management experience of international students is now quite mature, and a responsible, devoted and kind international student management team has been established.

Fourth, the talent training system and mechanism are sound. Various universities, disciplines, and majors have formulated mature talent training programs that conform to international practices and can meet the learning needs of international students. Academic degrees obtained in China are widely recognized by the international community.

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