Introduction: International students in China

This chapter functions as an introduction to the volume. It starts with a discussion on traditional and current trends of international student mobility worldwide, and a review of the recent expansion of international student enrolment in China as partly a response to the country’s high-profile “Belt and Road” Initiative. The chapter then reviews major findings of the research on international student in China, pointing out the significance and urgency of researching these students’ academic experience, so as to assure the sustainable development of China’s international student education. The chapter ends with an introduction to the contents of each chapter.