China recently lifted its temporary rules that were put in place during the COVID-19 pandemic, allowing foreign universities to offer online courses to students within the country. Like many other countries, it recognised the need for students to continue their education during this period and therefore allowed foreign universities to offer online courses to students within the country.

Following the abandonment of China’s strict ‘Zero-COVID’ policy, the Ministry of education’s Chinese Service Centre for Scholarly Exchange (CSCSE) in Beijing issued various statements, urging students to return to overseas campuses as soon as possible, indicating that they would no longer recognise overseas degrees obtained via online learning (with the exception of Chinese students unable to attend universities in Ukraine and Russia due to the conflict in that region).

Justified as a crackdown on substandard online degree courses, this change will have a significant impact on foreign universities and their ability to reach Chinese students in the current period, as several logistical bottlenecks are expected in countries with high numbers of incoming Chinese students in the Asia Pacific region, including Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, and South Korea. These include likely delays in visa procedures, finding accommodation and other practical issues.

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