Indian international students studying science and engineering in China have surged! The cost-effectiveness far exceeds that of Europe and the United States, and the K visa has become a highly sought-after option.
Recently, more and more Indian students, especially young people who want to study science and engineering, are shifting their focus from the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia to China. The key factor driving this shift is the "K category talent visa" policy, which officially took effect in October 2024.
According to feedback from multiple university faculty members, the number of applications received has been very hot. A professor of computer science at a 985 university in Southwest China revealed that after the details of the K visa policy were widely disseminated in India, his personal email received over 200 emails from Indian students within just two weeks — most of them clearly expressing their desire to pursue master's or doctoral programs in fields such as artificial intelligence, data science, and electrical engineering. In 2023, he received fewer than 30 similar emails throughout the entire year.
There is a clear logic behind this. First, the cost-effectiveness of Chinese higher education in science and engineering fields is increasingly evident. A batch of Chinese universities, represented by Tsinghua University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, and Zhejiang University, consistently rank among the top 100 in global rankings such as QS and THE for engineering and technology disciplines. In certain specialized areas (such as materials science and computer vision), they even enter the top 30. In terms of tuition fees, the annual cost for most master's programs ranges between RMB 30,000 and 60,000, and with living expenses, the total cost is usually less than one-third of that of similar programs in the US or UK.
The introduction of the K visa significantly lowers the entry barriers for high-level foreign talents to come to China. This visa is aimed at foreign individuals with a master's degree or higher, or those with specific technical backgrounds, allowing them to enter China as "talent introductions" and directly apply for a residency permit of up to 5 years.
More importantly, if students holding K visas find employment in Chinese enterprises or research institutions after graduation, they can seamlessly transition to work-related residency without going through the complicated process of "student visa to work visa" as before. Although this policy was not specifically targeted at India, it has caused strong reactions among Indian international students — because compared to the increasingly tightened technical immigration policies in Europe and the United States (for example, the H-1B lottery rate in the US has dropped below 10%), China's path appears more predictable.
In recent flights from Shanghai to New Delhi, the number of Indian passengers has significantly exceeded that of Chinese travelers. A Beijing Foreign Studies University student on an exchange program observed that on one flight, the number of Indian passengers often exceeds 100, while the number of Chinese passengers is often less than ten — a situation almost completely reversed from a few years ago.
Original article: www.toutiao.com/article/1848636952500439/
Statement: This article represents the views of the author.