Report: Chinese Students Flock to France for Business & Science Degrees

The number of Chinese students preferring to study business, science, and engineering in France has increased between 2019 and 2023, a recent report has revealed.

According to the report released by overseas education consultancy EIC Education Group earlier in December, the number of applicants for business majors is up from 64.7 percent in 2019 to 76 percent in 2023.

Moreover, the same reveals that applications for science and engineering programs increased to 7.8 percent, Erudera.com reports.

Data indicate that 80 percent of Chinese students applied for a master’s program in France over the past five years.

Within the same timeframe, 67 percent of students from China applied to a higher business school. Emlyon Business School received the most applications from Chinese students.

The report states that students graduating from engineering and business schools experienced less difficulty in finding employment in France.

In the 2021/22 academic year, the number of international students in France exceeded 400,000, increasing 8 percent from the previous year. Campus France data show that that was the highest increase in about 15 years.

Nearly 27,500 Chinese students were studying in France during the 2021/22 academic year, of which 10,115 studied in business schools, 2,934 in engineering schools, and 1,836 pursued PhD degrees. However, the number of Chinese students in France dropped by 2 percent from the 2020/21 academic year.

“Some origins, which had previously been on the decline, have been on the rise again over the past year (Germany, +17 percent; USA, +50 percent). Only mobility from China and Vietnam are still decreasing, with respectively -2 percent and -4 percent over one year,” the report by Campus France reads.

China was ranked third among countries with the most students in France during 2021/22, after Algeria with 31,032 students and Moocco leading with 46,371 students.

Other countries with a high number of students in France include:

• Italy
• Senegal
• Tunisia
• Spain
• Cote d’Ivoire
• Lebanon
• Cameroun

Within the top 10 countries with the most students to France in 2021/22, notable growth was reported in the enrollment of Italian students (ranking 4th, with a 16 percent increase), Spanish students (ranked 7th, showing a 25 percent increase), and Lebanese students (ranked 9th, experiencing a 30 percent rise).

In 2007, China and France agreed to recognize each other’s diplomas. Since then, the Chinese government has accepted all higher education diplomas approved by the French government, the EIC report highlights.

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