In early December, Chinese authorities announced sweeping measures to relax the country’s strict COVID restrictions, allowing home quarantine and largely scrapping the health QR code that has been mandatory for domestic travel. Recruitment tours are now more realistic with expectations rising for a full reopening of the country, including its international borders. In this article, we discussed some questions many international recruiters cares about when reconsider resuming recruiting events in China.
China recently announced a set of measures relaxing its quarantine requirements for international arrivals and simplifying the process (for some) of obtaining a visa for travel to China. These updates both open the door back up to the possibility of recruitment travel and make study abroad a more realistic option for Chinese students who have put their plans on hold since the onset of the pandemic. We also discuss the resilience of the US as a preferred study destination among Chinese students, and how unemployment may continue to drive interest in study abroad.
This White Paper is an annual review of trends in the Chinese education landscape in the past year and predictions for the future, by Sunrise International Education. Sunrise International supports overseas education institutions and companies in engaging the Chinese market, and our team of researchers, event managers, and educators is pleased to share our analysis of the most memorable year in our industry and identify trends that we expect to shape international education in China for years to come.
Often described as China’s answer to YouTube, Bilibili has become one of the most popular video platforms in China, particularly among Gen Z users. Throughout the course of the pandemic, Chinese students turned to the platform due to its increased focus on education-based content. Institutions seeking to diversify their digital marketing approach in China may want to consider choosing Bilibili to connect with its significant base of prospective students.
The COVID-19 pandemic posed an array of challenges to higher education institutions’ Chinese student recruitment efforts. We spoke with a few of our partners about the challenges and opportunities they've encountered in their China engagement.
Strict lockdowns have swept across 45 cities in China. Frustration over logistical mishaps and heavy-handed measures is driving a surge in searches for topics around emigration and study overseas. Searches for emigration are up as much as 24 times their normal levels on Baidu and 15x normal levels on Weibo. Similar searches on Wechat are up 440%. There’s reason to believe that this interest will endure after the end of lockdowns, especially among the Chinese upper-middle class. This presents an interesting window of opportunity for universities to re-engage the Chinese market as families consider charting a future overseas.
China’s new Personal Information Protection Law (PIPL) went into effect late last year, and while many of its provisions are similar to existing privacy laws in the EU and US, other stipulations are more novel. That said, we believe that most educational institutions are already positioned well to maintain compliance, though now more than ever, it is important to explore digital localization as a means of engaging with the Chinese market.
The pandemic threw a wrench into the gears of overseas study, and international student enrollment in many countries dipped as a result. Now that border and visa restrictions are easing, Chinese students are more eager than ever to pursue higher education opportunities abroad. We discuss the factors that have shaped enrollment data throughout the course of the pandemic, as well as what institutions in the US can expect in 2022 and beyond.
Owing to new domestic regulations, the effects of the pandemic, and uncertainty surrounding Hong Kong, many Chinese parents are exploring overseas boarding school opportunities as a means of providing their children with an international education. Boarding schools in the United States may be an attractive option going forward.
