Unveiling Sunrise's Trends in Chinese International Education 2025 White Paper
Sunrise’s Trends in Chinese International Education 2025 White Paper is now available. This White Paper aims to review key trends in the Chinese education landscape in 2024 and offer predictions and recommendations for 2025. Sunrise International is a global marketing firm that supports overseas education institutions and companies in engaging with the Chinese market through local digital campaigns, social media engagement, and recruitment tours in China’s bustling tier 2-3 cities. Our team is pleased to share our analysis of China’s rapidly evolving international education industry as it affects global higher education mobility.
Click here for a full version of the White Paper. Highlights include:
The total number of outbound Chinese students continues to increase and grow more diverse: In 2024, Chinese student numbers grew in traditional Big Four Anglophone study destinations as well as emerging destinations within Asia. Last year, the Big Four Anglophone destinations hosted 702,090 Chinese students, up 1.6% from last year. Australia saw the largest increase (+12%), while Canada and the UK grew modestly and the US saw some decline. Enrollment in non-Big Four destinations, such as Japan and Malaysia, is also growing, reflecting diversification. Push factors continue to motivate study overseas from China, and universities will need to make the case for their programs and their country as destinations.
Policy uncertainty in the Big Four persists: Canada and Australia have introduced student visa caps to address housing shortages. The UK faces minimal policy changes, maintaining its appeal. The US also stands to gain, provided that the Trump administration does not enact radical adverse policies. Uncertainty around the Trump administration remains, but the impact on Chinese students will be muted in 2025.
Facing a lackluster economy, Chinese middle-class families will place more focus on return on tuition investment: Although China’s 5% GDP growth beat forecasts, post-pandemic economic recovery remains incomplete, with weak property values, low consumer confidence and high youth unemployment. This is encouraging middle-class families to balance educational quality with a greater focus on affordability and post-graduation job prospects. For recruiters on Chinese social media and at recruitment fairs, emphasizing value, financial aid, and career outcomes will be helpful in 2025.
China is home to 972 international schools, the most of any country. International schools are growing the most in tier 2-3 cities, with Jiangsu now outranking Shanghai in the number of international schools.
Chinese universities are more keen than ever to create and upgrade inter-university partnerships: China is trying to attract American and European students to study in China, but this is also driving newfound interest among Chinese universities in inter-university partnerships, raising opportunities for recruitment and research-based partnerships.
Agency establishment and fragmentation continues: China was home to 3,450 newly established study overseas companies in 2024, up from 11.5% in 2023, driven by growth in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities. Increased fragmentation challenges universities to build more localized partnerships while offering opportunities for diversified recruitment and closer collaboration with smaller-scale agencies.
Please reach out to contact@sieconnection.com for any questions about the white paper or our recruitment toolkits for institutions!