Safety concerns

Moreover, while education quality remained the most important factor considered by Chinese students when deciding which country to study in, safety was the second-most important factor this year, up from seventh place last year. The degree of xenophobia was seventh this year, up from 13th place last year, according to the EIC report.

Ni Shiya, who has spent the past four years in the US, returned to China in July after Georgia State University cut funding for his doctoral program due to the pandemic.

He obtained a master's degree in sports management at Rutgers University, but just over a month into his four-year doctoral program at GSU, the university decided to cut the funding, which included a monthly subsidy and $40,000 a year for tuition, he said.

"The university said the government had cut its funding due to the pandemic, which meant I would have to spend 400,000 to 500,000 yuan ($57,600 to $72,000) each year in the US, and the costs are simply too high," the 24-year-old said.

Ni said he was also worried about his safety in the country, as there was no sign that the pandemic would be brought under control anytime soon. Hostile policies of the US government toward Chinese students also prompted his return, he added.

Many Chinese students were horrified and emotionally exhausted by a succession of US measures announced since last year, he said. They included limiting job opportunities for international graduates from US universities, prohibiting Chinese students from receiving visas to study in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) fields, and the recent policy flip-flop on whether foreign students whose universities were only teaching online would be granted visas.

"We're tired of the uncertainties, of not knowing whether the policies will get stricter, whether our visas will be invalidated, or whether we will be targeted and blamed for the pandemic, so coming home is a tough but natural choice," Ni said.