When the first foreign students arrived in Beijing at the end of the Cultural Revolution (1966-76), they were gawked at by locals who hadn't seen Westerners before. Today, Beijing hosts tens of thousands of foreign students a year. But that's just the tip of the iceberg. According to recent statistics released by the Chinese Ministry of Education, China is now the third most popular destination for foreign students, surpassing France.

Over 370,000 students from 203 countries enrolled in China's universities, research and education institutions in 2014, a 5.77 percent increase year on year.

About 60 percent of the foreign students in China are from Asia, with the largest numbers of students coming from South Korea, the United States and Thailand, with Russia, Japan, Indonesia and India coming up behind.

Re-positioning

Changes are afoot in the population of foreign students studying in China. According to a report released during the first international forum on foreign students studying in China, held on March 24, the number of foreign students from developed countries is decreasing, while the number of students from developing countries is increasing.

Also, the report shows that growth in the number of foreign students slowed in 2013 and 2014, after a decade of rapid, continuous expansion.

Despite an enormous number of foreign students in China hailing from Asia, 225,490 in 2014, the growth in the number of Asian students is actually decreasing, at just 2.58 percent in 2014, the smallest increase in the past 10 years. Besides, Southeast Asia is rising.

Chen Zhiwen, the chief editor of eol.cn, one of the biggest educational websites in China, says there are a few trends worth paying attention to.

"First, the growth of foreign students studying in China from traditional [feeder] regions is slowing, growth in Korean students is holding steady, and growth in the number of students from the United States is decreasing. Second, new sources are on the rise; Thailand [has outstripped Japan] to become the third largest source of foreign students in China, while more and more foreign students in China are from Africa and Europe," Chen told the new portal gmw.cn.

"Many people think that China should focus on attracting students from developed countries. However, the statistics show that the focus should shift to Asia, because [students in] neighboring countries can be more easily influenced," he said, citing data from 2014 that showed more than 13,000 students in China arriving from Pakistan, a 7.1 times increase over 2005.

"Countries involved with the 'One Belt, One Road Initiative' could contribute to the foreign students market," Chen noted.

Stepping into their shoes

Early in 2011, the Chinese government announced plans to attract 500,000 foreign students by 2020, with 180,000 studying in Beijing and 80,000 in Shanghai. But how can educational institutions make themselves more attractive? Chen said stepping into the shoes of foreign students is a must.

"Many colleges and universities only think from their own point of view, ignoring the needs of foreign students," he said, explaining that many institutions only have Chinese websites and Chinese enrollment forms.

A survey conducted by China's University and College Admission System which interviewed 6,000 foreign students, found that 90 percent of the interviewees would choose to study a course that was taught in English. But the reality is that only 15 percent of colleges and universities had such courses in 2014.

"Teaching in Putonghua is one of the main factors that limits the number of foreign students in China," Hong Chengwen, a professor at the Institute of Higher Education at Beijing Normal University said, adding that scholarships are typically available only for very dull courses, as state funds are often the only donor.

Hong suggested policymakers consider whether universities' credits can be freely transferred to other universities before accepting transfer students, which is another major constraint on the number of foreign students at present.

Chen argues that quality is a vital factor, pointing out that nearly 80 percent of the foreign students apply to institutions that ranked in top 50 nationally, resulting in inadequate enrollment in the rest of China's higher education institutions.

He suggests increasing the teaching quality in both Chinese and English classes offered to foreigners, strengthening training of teachers nationwide, and improving the rigid management system in higher education to improve services.

"The profit bought by an international student is two to three times that of a domestic student. With a decreasing number of students taking the national college entrance examinations, attracting more foreign students is vital to higher education's development," Chen said.

Starting from September 1, 2014, China has increased the amount of subsidies in scholarships to foreign students in order to enhance its programs attractiveness.

The subsidy for a bachelor degree ranges from a minimum of 59,200 yuan ($9,536) to the highest of 66,200 yuan per year. Subsidy for a master degree range from 70,200 to 79,200 yuan and for a doctoral degree from 89,800 to 99,800 yuan.

At the moment, the tuition fee to international students in China is about 20,000 yuan [in average] a year for a bachelor degree, 25,000 yuan for a master degree and 32,000 yuan for a doctoral degree.

According to San Jose Mercury News, foreign students studying in China mainly do so because of scholarships, cheap tuition fees compared to the US, and its language environment.

But, foreign students in China do not tend to stay to work in the country because it still lacks employment and visa policies that benefit foreign graduates and attract them to stay.

According to a report published in 2013, 55 out of 81 Korean students in China said they chose to go back to Korea to work and 14 stayed in China for employment after graduation.