中国出国留学潮正出现显著降温。2025年，中国仅有约57万名青年选择赴海外留学，较2019年70万的高峰大幅下滑，创下2016年以来的最低水平。根据新东方调查，今年海外留学的平均费用高达60.5万元人民币（约89,600美元），较2023年上涨近五分之一。与此同时，中国国内高等教育入学人数去年达到创纪录的1070万人，推动越来越多的学生转向性价比更高的地区（如香港、日本、马来西亚）或留在国内求学。
留学生回国（海归）的比例已创下历史新高。官方数据显示，去年海归人数占出国留学生的94%，而在2015年至2025年间，共有520万名海归毕业生返回中国。海归群体规模的扩大削弱了海外学历的独特优势，海归的平均起薪为每月12,800元人民币，仅略高于国内毕业生的10,700元。随着北京大学和清华大学在QS世界大学排名中跃升至第13和第14位，国内顶尖高校的吸引力和低廉学费使其更具竞争力。
中国留学生数量的减少正对西方高校及中国自身产生双重影响。在英国罗素大学集团中，中国学生曾占国际学生总数的五分之二以上，留学生减少已迫使部分英国高校裁员并关停课程。对中国而言，尽管历史上中共中央政治局21名成员中有8位曾赴海外求学，且海归群体对国家现代化及企业出海作出了重要贡献，但海外求学热潮的退烧恐将影响未来的国际人才交流与知识引进。
China's study-abroad boom is experiencing a major slowdown, driven by geopolitical tensions, rising costs, and changing economic realties. In 2025, approximately 570,000 young Chinese pursued overseas education, marking a sharp decline from the peak of 700,000 in 2019 and reaching the lowest level since 2016. According to New Oriental, the average cost of foreign study surged nearly one-fifth from 2023 to 605,000 yuan ($89,600) this year. Meanwhile, a record 10.7 million students entered domestic higher education last year, prompting many to opt for cost-effective local institutions or closer destinations like Hong Kong, Japan, and Malaysia.
The proportion of returnees, known as haigui, reached an all-time high of 94% of outbound students last year, with official statistics recording 5.2 million returnees between 2015 and 2025. This massive influx has diluted the traditional cachet of a foreign degree, as average monthly starting salaries for returnees now stand at 12,800 yuan, only marginally above the 10,700 yuan earned by domestic graduates. Furthermore, top Chinese institutions like Peking University and Tsinghua University now rank 13th and 14th globally in the QS rankings, making domestic education increasingly attractive.
The shrinking influx of Chinese students is disrupting higher education abroad while posing long-term challenges for China itself. Chinese students previously constituted over two-fifths of international students across Britain's elite Russell Group universities, where declining enrolments are now driving course closures and staff layoffs. For China, where eight of the 21 current Politburo members were educated abroad and returning talent historically spearheaded economic modernisation and corporate expansion, a decline in overseas exposure could diminish future international competitiveness and knowledge transfer.
Source: Why ever fewer young Chinese study abroad
Subtitle: Those who do are more likely to return home afterwards
Dateline: 8月 06, 2026 05:11 上午