[Abstract] The report of the 20th Party Congress puts education, science and technology, and personnel work in a more important position, studying in China as an important part of higher education personnel training, is of great significance for strengthening China's communication and understanding with the world. Since the founding of the People's Republic of China, the cause of studying in China has experienced an important transformation of "from nothing to something, from small to large, from point to surface" and then "from emphasizing expansion to focusing on quality and efficiency". The development of the cause of studying in China is in step with the economic and social development of new China. As witnesses of China's development, international students in China have become "civilian diplomats" who tell good stories about China after in-depth understanding of the real China. Therefore, this paper attempts to use the historical development concept to correctly, comprehensively and dynamically analyze the historical process and development trend of "studying in China", with a view to helping the international public to better understand each other, encouraging international students to tell Chinese stories well, and cultivating a new generation of people who know and are friends with China.

Since the founding of the People's Republic of China more than 70 years ago, the program of studying in China has continuously expanded in scale, improved in quality, improved in institutional construction, and improved in service capacity. Education for students studying in China has become a modern international education system with "huge scale, complete disciplines, multi-level coverage, diverse models and facing the world", and its global influence and competitiveness have been significantly enhanced. In recent years, with the improvement of the internationalization level of China's higher education, China has become an important destination country for Asian students to study abroad, and self-supporting students account for the majority of international students in China, and the brand value of "study in China" has been widely recognized by international students.





I. Four stages of studying in China since the founding of New China

From 1949 to 1977, the initial stage was started. Since the founding of New China, the Chinese government has attached great importance to studying in China. At that time, due to the policy of political isolation and military hostility adopted by the capitalist countries represented by the United States towards New China, China's foreign exchanges were subjected to various restrictions. According to the instructions of Premier Zhou Enlai, the work of recruiting foreign students in China began with the Eastern European countries that had established diplomatic relations with New China and were friendly to China, and gradually expanded to the friendly countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America. The main recruitment channel is to send government exchange students through the embassies of the above countries in China. From the end of 1950 to the beginning of 1951, the first group of 33 students from five Eastern European countries entered the "Special Chinese Language Course for Exchange Students from Eastern Europe" at Tsinghua University, creating a first for New China to receive foreign students and promoting exchanges and contacts between China and socialist countries in Eastern Europe.
After the Bandung Conference in 1955, China's diplomatic relations with neighboring countries developed, and students from Vietnam, the DPRK, Mongolia, Laos and other countries came to China one after another, steadily advancing neighboring diplomacy. In the late 1950s, the national independence movement in Asia, Africa and Latin America was rising, and the newly independent countries established diplomatic relations with China, and China actively undertook international responsibilities and obligations to train socialist construction personnel for these countries, and in this way carried out and strengthened educational, cultural, scientific and technological exchanges and cooperation with other socialist countries, and cultivated reserves of knowledge and friends of China. In 1959, China began to accept African students. In the early 1960s, China began to receive a small number of students from Western Europe, North America and Japan. Since then, the nationalities of international students in China have covered the whole world. In 1971, China resumed its lawful seat in the United Nations. By 1978, the number of countries with diplomatic relations with China had rapidly increased to 117, and the number of international students in China was increasing year by year. From 1950 to 1978, China trained more than 12,800 foreign students. Although the conditions and scale of China's acceptance of international students at that time were very limited, most of the international students grew into the backbone of China's friendly work with other countries. First of all, it is reflected in the process of cooperating with the diplomatic layout of the country, which promotes and deepens the knowledge and understanding of the new China for international students. Secondly, it has played a foundational and pioneering role in the establishment and development of the education system for overseas students in China. Again for the further development of the education of overseas students in China after the reform and opening up, the policy foundation and the accumulation of experience in various aspects such as institutions, systems and management.
1978-2000, steady adjustment phase. In 1978, the Third Plenary Session of the 11th CPC Central Committee made a major decision to carry out reform and opening up. On January 1, 1979, the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the United States opened a new era of exchange of students between China and the United States. As an accompanying phenomenon of social development, the educational cause of studying in China gradually gained vitality and vitality, and then entered a period marked by the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the United States, China and Western countries increased the number of students studying in each other. According to the Regulations of the People's Republic of China on Academic Degrees promulgated by The State Council in 1980, foreign students studying in China may apply for degrees from degree-granting institutions, and corresponding degrees may be awarded to those who have the specified academic level.  Since 1984, the categories of foreign students enrolled in China have covered language students, diploma students, progressive students and research scholars. From 1978 to 1989, it was not only the spring of China's reform and opening up, but also the spring of the development of education for overseas students in China. Among the international students in China, there are not only government-funded degree students, but also a large number of self-funded students. They reflect the rising level, quality and scale of education in China, and also reflect the gradual integration of education work in China with the world. Since then, self-funded students have gradually become the main body of international students in China. During this period, the state selected and sent overseas students in large numbers and enrolled self-funded students in China. The source of foreign students in China covered Western developed countries, becoming a prominent symbol of China's education opening up to the outside world, and a carrier to promote Sino-foreign language and cultural exchanges and the communication and integration of Eastern and Western values. As a window of opening to the outside world, the education of overseas students in China tests China's ability to participate in international affairs and maintains China's image and reputation. In 1996, the China Scholarship Council was established to further improve the quality and level of international students in China. In 1997, the Interim Measures for the Annual Evaluation of Scholarships for Foreign Students was issued, which explored the annual evaluation system for scholarship students; In 1999, colleges and universities expanded enrollment on a large scale to promote the further opening and development of education for overseas students in China; In 2000, the Regulations on the Administration of Acceptance of Foreign Students in Institutions of Higher Learning were issued to guide the standardized management of education for overseas students in China.
During this period, China's higher education or scientific research institutions received and trained about 350,600 students of various types, of which 32,059 were Chinese government scholarship students, accounting for 9.14 percent, and 318,500 were self-funded students, accounting for 90.86%; The scale of enrollment is gradually expanding, the source of students is constantly expanding to the developed countries in education, and the quality and level are improved. The purpose and significance of studying in China has gradually expanded from serving China's overall diplomatic situation to serving the country's overall diplomatic, economic and social development and higher education reform and development. The education policy of studying in China has gradually changed from closed to open, and the management mode has gradually changed from direct management by the government to the direction of "schools become the main body and the government is responsible for regulation".
2001-2019, rapid development stage. Diplomacy is an extension of internal affairs. Hard power is the tangible carrier and materialization of soft power, while soft power is the intangible extension of hard power, and the two are closely linked and mutually promoting. Attracting high-level international students and scholars has become an inevitable trend in the development of world higher education, an important symbol to measure the quality of a country's higher education, and a commanding height of talent competition and strategic competition in various countries. Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, China's comprehensive national strength has continued to improve, and it has become the mission and responsibility of studying in China to strengthen the cultivation of middle and high-end talents who know China and are friends with China. For exporting countries, the internationalization of higher education not only exports professional knowledge and educational ideas, but also includes political, social and cultural ideas. Receiving and training a large number of international students can not only improve the quality of education in the country, promote the education reform and scientific and technological innovation in the country, but also provide opportunities to positively publicize the national conditions and values of the country, promote international understanding, and expand the international influence of the country.
From 2020 to now, the stage of improving quality and efficiency. In 2020, the COVID-19 epidemic has swept the world, and the internationalization of education is facing severe challenges. All countries in the world have adopted strict entry-exit control and isolation policies, and the flow of international students and cross-border exchanges have been basically interrupted. At present, the international students in domestic colleges and universities are mainly some students who have stayed in China since the epidemic and have not returned to China, which has greatly affected the enrollment work, resulting in more intense competition for international talents. At the same time, under the influence of the epidemic, the education of overseas students in China has also shifted from daily work to quality assessment as the core index of various overseas study policies. We should do a good job in the enrollment and quality training of overseas students, adjust the talent training program for overseas students, improve the fit degree of enterprise supply for graduate students, and improve the quality of talent training for overseas students in colleges and universities. All colleges and universities are building the "Study in China" education brand, concentrating the advantages of all parties, trying to develop high-quality online and offline combination of online courses, the ultimate goal is to rely on the online digital platform to build a sharing platform, to realize the international and domestic double flow of international students in China on the virtual network platform.


2. Data analysis of current international students in China

According to statistics from the Ministry of Education, in the 40 years from 1978 to 2018, the annual number of students studying in China increased from 1,236 to 492,200, an increase of 397 times; The number of colleges and universities with the qualifications to receive them has also increased from 35 to 1,004, an increase of nearly 28 times. Between 2001 and 2009, the annual growth rate of the Lai Sheng scale was more than 20%. From 2010 to 2018, the annual number of international students in China increased from 265,100 to 492,200, an increase of 1.86 times in nine years. In 2016, the General Office of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and The General Office of the State Council issued Several Opinions on Doing a Good Job in Opening Up Education in the New Era, which clearly put quality and efficiency as the main line, requiring that by optimizing the origin of students in China and the layout of majors, increase the construction of brand majors and brand courses, and build a socialized and professional service system for studying in China. Build a "study in China" brand. By strengthening the implementation of the action plan for studying abroad, we will accelerate the training of top innovative talents, talents in non-common languages, talents in international organizations, talents in national and regional studies, and outstanding talents in China. This marks the development of overseas education in China has entered a new stage of quality development and connotation development. With the proposal of the "Belt and Road" Initiative, the international educational exchanges and cooperation between China and the countries and regions along the "Belt and Road" have become increasingly frequent and in-depth, and the positioning of the activities of studying in China in the countries and regions along the "Belt and Road" has been continuously improved, and the number of students studying in China has continued to increase, becoming the main area of the growing number of international students in China.
According to the Statistics of Overseas Students in China in 2018 released by the Ministry of Education, from the perspective of origin and educational structure, international students in China come from 196 countries and regions; Asian countries and regions are still the largest source of students, accounting for 59.95%; Africa is slightly higher than Europe, accounting for 16.57% and 14.96% respectively. The Americas accounted for 7.26%, Oceania accounted for 1.27%. A total of 258,122 people received academic education, accounting for 52.44%, 16,579 more than in 2017, an increase of 6.86%; The number of master's and doctoral students totaled 85,062, an increase of 12.28% over 2017, including 25,618 doctoral students and 59,444 master's students; There were 234,100 people receiving non-academic education, accounting for 47.56%. The number of students studying engineering, management, science, art and agriculture has increased significantly, with a year-on-year increase of more than 20%. From the tuition channels of international students in China, there are 63,041 students with Chinese government scholarships, accounting for 12.81%, and 429,000 students with self-funded or overseas institution scholarships, accounting for 87.19%. According to China's current economic strength, national scale and international practice, the total amount of scholarships provided by the state finance for studying in China is still at a medium level in the world, which means that China's policy on foreign students is basically in line with the world development trend and practice. While the Chinese government subsidizes students from other countries to study in China in the form of scholarships, many Chinese students also continue to study overseas through scholarships provided by other countries.
From the perspective of the standardized management of studying in China, it is crucial to build a complete study in China policy system to enhance the attractiveness of study in China education. The comprehensive evaluation of the school-running ability and school-running achievements of institutions of higher learning focuses on the evaluation of the education management and service quality of institutions of higher learning to study in China, urges colleges and universities to establish the education philosophy of studying in China oriented by improving the training quality, and implements the work policy of "expanding the scale, optimizing the structure, standardizing the management and ensuring the quality" of the Ministry of Education. To promote the healthy and orderly development of education for overseas students in China.
First of all, we will continue to improve the preparatory education system for overseas students in China, build demonstration bases for overseas students in China, select English-taught brand courses, train management cadres for overseas students in China, and set up English-taught teacher training centers. Secondly, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Public Security jointly formulated the Administrative Measures for the Recruitment and Training of International Students in Schools to further clarify the recruitment and training conditions for international students in China, and standardize the management responsibilities of schools and departments. Thirdly, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Education jointly issued the Notice on Matters Concerning Allowing Outstanding Foreign University Graduates to work in China, aiming to open up internship and employment channels for international students and enhance the attractiveness and appeal of studying in China. Finally, the Ministry of Education issued the first national unified standard after the founding of New China, "Higher Education Quality standards for International students in China (Trial)", which clearly proposed to promote the assimilation of teaching, management and service of Chinese and foreign students, and clearly proposed that students in China should adhere to the quality first, strict standardized management, and take the road of conformal development.


Third, the historical characteristics of the connotative development of "Study in China"

Focusing on more internationally competitive education and the globally influential "Study in China" brand is an important starting point to serve the country's opening up strategy, realize the Chinese dream of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and build a community with a shared future for mankind. China's educational resources and education market are huge. With the strengthening of strategic communication between China and foreign countries, the promotion of practical cooperation, and the deepening of international educational exchanges, it will certainly bring more new opportunities to economic globalization and education internationalization.
Focusing on the commanding high point of improving the quality and efficiency of studying in China, we will steadily improve the professionalization, scientific, standardization and institutionalization of education in China, embrace the world's youth with a win-win educational cooperation and a more open and humble attitude, and attract global talents. From "expanding the scale" to "improving the quality and efficiency" is the only way for the professional development of international education, and it is the historical transformation that the professional education of overseas students in China needs to complete after socialism with Chinese characteristics has entered a new era. Focusing on the promotion of the activities of studying in China in countries and regions along the "Belt and Road" is not only a bond to spread Chinese culture, build China's image, enhance understanding and exchanges between Chinese and foreign people, but also an important measure to conform to the historical trend, improve human welfare and improve the competitiveness of education for studying in China.
Teaching in the post-epidemic era has put forward new requirements for the employees of universities studying in China, and the trend of education informatization is irreversible. Therefore, online teaching is no longer a short-term behavior of colleges and universities to cope with unexpected situations, but a long-term subversive teaching revolution, which has become a new growth point to enhance the internationalization level and international competitiveness of colleges and universities. The relevant departments of colleges and universities engaged in the work of studying in China have taken this opportunity to accelerate the digital construction, improve the online course system, and strengthen the use of online platforms for teachers to teach and share relevant information