Outlook on Sino-US travel, education exchanges gloomy

Industry insiders and experts hold a gloomy view of tourism and education exchanges between China and the United States, after two of China's ministries issued risk alerts noting the deterioration in bilateral economic relations caused by the US' hefty tariffs.

The Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the Ministry of Education issued separate alerts on Wednesday evening.

The former reminded Chinese tourists to fully assess tourism risks in the US, in light of the worsening trade relations between the two sides and the US' domestic security situation. The Ministry of Education warned Chinese students to make security assessments if choosing to study in certain US states, citing a bill passed in the US state of Ohio that contains negative provisions related to China. It imposes restrictions on education exchanges and cooperation between Chinese and US higher education institutions, Xinhua News Agency reported.

Some tourism and education experts expressed concerns about future China-US cooperation and development in the two sectors amid the escalating tariffs and public anxiety.

"There is a high possibility that the number of Chinese travelers heading to the US will decrease and China's outbound tourism to the US will hit a new low," said Zhang Jinshan, a researcher of tourism planning and development at Beijing Union University.

Zhang said that although China's outbound tourism to the US continues to recover after the COVID-19 pandemic, the current market volume is still below pre-pandemic levels.

According to Germany-based data platform Statista, the number of visitors from China to the US was about 1.6 million in 2024, increasing from 1.1 million the previous year. Figures from the website show that the number of Chinese visitors to the US fluctuated between 2011 and 2019, while dropping sharply from 2.8 million in 2019 to 378,000 in 2020 amid COVID-19.

"The number of travelers is affected by many elements, such as flight ticket prices and state-to-state relations. Currently, those having rigid travel demands to the US may not change their plans, like for family visits or international students, while people going for leisure or tourism purposes will consider more cautiously before making their decision," said Wei Changren, founder of btiii.com, a tourism-related financial news website, who is bearish on short-term tourism prospects between the two countries.

Concerns also came from the education sector, which has faced unilateral US visa restrictions and unfair treatment in recent years.

Chen Zhiwen, a member of the Chinese Society of Educational Development Strategy, said: "Chinese students have faced a deteriorating environment for getting an education in the US due to its containment against China in trade, technology and talent cultivation. The number of Chinese students going to the US for education has decreased by 100,000 in the past four years. Chinese parents will choose other countries as destinations for their children's overseas studies if the scenario continues to worsen."

He reminded Chinese parents and students to be more careful when considering getting an education in the US.

Data from the "Open Doors 2024 Report on International Educational Exchange", produced in part by the US State Department, and which was released in November, showed that 277,398 students from the Chinese mainland went to the US during the 2023-24 academic year. The number has dropped annually since peaking at more than 370,000 in the 2019-20 academic year.

Speaking of the ministries' warnings, Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said the extreme pressure that the US has unilaterally applied on China, and the bullying and hegemonic actions by the US, have severely deteriorated the social foundation and public opinion environment between the two countries, seriously disrupting bilateral exchanges and cooperation in various fields.

Lin said China will continue to take resolute and strong measures to safeguard the nation's legitimate rights and interests.

Zhao Yimeng contributed to this story.