Chinese parents look to send children abroad again for education as coronavirus fears ease
- The pandemic forced many Chinese parents to suspend plans to send their children overseas for study, but that is starting to change as the world reopens
- The United States and Britain remain the most popular destinations, but Singapore, Hong Kong and Germany are gaining in favour, a new survey shows
A growing number of wealthy Chinese families are shrugging off fears about the coronavirus pandemic and once again making plans to send their children abroad to study.
Like many of her friends, Guangzhou native Annie Fang is determined to give her son, who is a freshman at an international high school in Guangdong, the opportunity to study overseas.
“My son’s class has about 20 students and more than a quarter have gone to the United States or Canada for high school study so far this year,” she said.
“No matter how difficult it is, we will pave the way for him to study abroad for better opportunities in the future.”
Under Beijing’s zero-Covid policy, China has maintained some of the tightest border restrictions in the world, while millions of Chinese have shunned travel due to health concerns.
But that is starting to change. Some 36.7 per cent of affluent Chinese families whose children study foreign curriculums say they would to send them abroad at high school age or younger, compared to 15.7 per cent last year, according to a survey released in August by Babazhenbang, an education start-up with a database of more than 400 schools preparing Chinese students for overseas study.