Chinese students in Italy enjoy their leisure time outside the classroom. Photo: Courtesy of Leporati
More Italy and less Great Britain: In recent years, especially since the post-pandemic period, the flow of Chinese university students to Europe has changed direction, with a growing number of students favoring the Italian peninsula over institutions in the UK.
This shift is not only due to the strong cultural ties that have strengthened in recent years between Italy and China, but also due to a gradual loss of importance of what, for a long time, was the primary motivation for Chinese students moving to Europe, namely obtaining university degrees that made it easier to find employment in China or abroad.
With the reopening of borders following the pandemic, the geopolitical landscape has undergone historical and economic changes, and even the previously favored destinations for Chinese students have lost their appeal, making way for others.
In Europe, the UK, previously one of the most sought-after countries, has gradually lost the allure it once had, while Italy, which was not among the most desired destinations due to language barriers, is on the rise.
This trend became evident during the presentation of the proceedings of the eighth conference on the Marco Polo and Turandot programs for Chinese students held in Rome at the beginning of December 2024.
This has also been confirmed by data from the Chinese Ministry of Education; until the 2019-2020 academic year, there were 703,500 students leaving China for Europe, North America, Canada, and Australia. The number of returning students for the same period was 580,300.
According to the Global Flow of Tertiary-Level Students published by UNESCO in 2021, Italy ranked as the fourth country in Europe and the 12th in the world for Chinese students. In that year, 72,874 international students, including those in music conservatories and art academies, arrived at Italian universities.
Among the Chinese students heading to Italy, the Marco Polo and Turandot programs, designed and managed for more than 10 years by the Italy China Counsel Foundation Academy (ICCF) in collaboration with the University for Foreigners of Siena, have played and continue to play an important role as a bridge to the Italian language, which is unfamiliar to them. This involves obtaining a study visa contingent upon pre-enrollment in a university course of Higher Education in Art, Music, and Dance.
The uniqueness and peculiarity of these programs provide Chinese students with a qualitative and cognitive opportunity not only in STEM disciplines but also in what the Italian artistic and cultural tradition has brought to the world stage.
“With the passing years, the proportion of students interested in the Marco Polo programs focused on scientific and humanities subjects has decisively reversed compared to students in the Turandot programs aimed at entering conservatories and academies,” confirmed Francesco Boggio Ferraris, director of the ICCF Academy, in light of the choices made by the 145 Chinese participants in a thousand-hour educational training program conducted in 2024.
The flow of Chinese students to Italy, in 2024, rebounded to match that of the 2019-2020 academic year before the pandemic. Among the reasons for this new trend of Chinese students toward Italy is the decline in the attractiveness of the UK, where traditionally a quarter of international students were Chinese.
Figures by the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service showed a 1.9 percent drop in the number of Chinese students admitted for undergraduate degree courses via its application system in 2024, which fell to 17,070, down from a peak of 18,500 in 2022. The reasons can be traced back to issues with English language proficiency, the fact that many Chinese apps cannot be used in the UK with the full range of functions available in China, and minimal support from universities for future employment. Additionally, students have reported integration issues in local life, with extremely high living costs and tuition fees.
The increased appeal of the Italian destination has undoubtedly been influenced by the strengthening of cultural relations with China, which has materialized in the last two years through events organized in China through museum and concert activities that have warmed hearts, especially during the celebrations of the 700th anniversary of Marco Polo’s death, marked by President Mattarella’s visit to China.
The recent inauguration of an exhibition of 134 Roman and Greek sculptures at the Shanxi Museum in Taiyuan, North China’s Shanxi Province, which aimed not only to showcase the works, but also to promote a “dialogue of civilizations,” further confirmed this connection.
An obstacle to this trend could be represented by the economic situation of some Chinese families. Those who sent their children to study abroad, especially in the US and Canada, hoped that this significant investment would yield returns. However, many students now see more complicated employment opportunities and are more reluctant to pursue studies abroad.
For Italy, however, agreements between prestigious universities, including Bocconi, Politecnico di Milano, and Politecnico di Torino, and Chinese institutions offer more opportunities in industry and the large lifestyle sector, while conservatories and academies provide internationally recognized certificates.
The combination of art and technique is also a winning factor, as evidenced by Chinese students who have attended the Conservatorio di Bergamo or the master’s program at the Accademia di Brera.
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Publish date : 2025-02-21 04:56:00
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