Finding a sweet spot

For many students, diplomas and qualifications are not enough. Work experience in the industry and language skills are the most valued in the international job market.

Shiba Akinori, a 23-year-old Japanese student, is excited about getting his bachelor's diploma in finance in Shanghai in about six months. He applied for a one-semester extension, mostly due to language difficulties. "The courses are in English and Chinese, so they are quite complicated for me," he said.

However, Shiba doesn't think the diploma itself will be helpful for his future career. The fact that he will have actually lived and studied in China will be of far more significance, he said, adding that he has already been offered a job by a Japanese human resources company in Shanghai.

Shiba attributes his success in securing a coveted position before graduation to the fact that he had completed three internships at related positions. "And I think what they value the most are my foreign language skills (Chinese and Japanese)."

Xiong said decisions by foreign students about whether to come to China are based on whether they want to work in China or with Chinese people, and their major. "It's not for a diploma. A diploma from a Chinese university is not fundamentally valuable for them."

Lincoln van der Westhuizen, from South Africa, has been studying in China for about one year, majoring in business journalism at a Masters program.

After getting his Bachelor's in radio journalism, Westhuizen worked as a sports journalist for one year before coming to China. He is eyeing a career in sports marketing, which he thinks is a yet-to-be-thriving industry with a lot of opportunities in China.

"A lot of my friends aren't necessarily getting visas out of internships, which makes it more difficult," he said. Westhuizen said that many foreigners he has met chose to take English teaching jobs as it is often difficult to get their dream job and a work visa at the same time immediately after graduation.

According to regulations by the public security authorities, any company which wants to hire foreigners needs to apply to the labor authorities for permits, which the foreigners need in order to apply for work visas. Requirements often include at least two years of work experience, which can be tough for the graduates to get before they study in China.

Foreign students who don't have the required experience have to consider more than just dealing with the bureaucracy, and the possibility they will have an employer who cannot keep their promises. "Basically I plan to stay here, but it's getting harder and harder to get visas. So my plan is to come back to South Africa and then come back later," said Westhuizen.

Challenges and prosperity

According to plans by the Ministry of Education, China aims to become the biggest destination country in Asia for overseas education by 2020, with half a million students studying on the Chinese mainland, among whom 150,000 should be studying for higher education diplomas.

But overall, the number of students studying at Chinese universities isn't necessarily increasing. Aside from China's declining numbers of youth, particularly when compared to the number of older citizens, there is also the fact that fewer students are choosing to take the gaokao (college entrance examination).

Numbers of students taking the gaokao have consistently fallen since 2008 with this year being the only exception - there was a 3 percent bump.

But the number of Chinese students studying abroad has increased by nearly 20 percent each year.

"If the universities cannot keep their own students and attract high-quality Chinese students, how can they attract foreign students?" asked Xiong.

In 2013, more than 33,000 international students in China received government scholarships, accounting for 9.35 percent of the international students. This represented an increase of 16 percent.

But Xiong pointed out that the country's goals cannot be accomplished merely through promotion, expanding enrolment and more scholarships. "Many universities adopt all sorts of methods to increase the so-called size of the international student body, and the internationalization of local schools, including providing more scholarships, lower examination standards and entrance thresholds, but this causes students to be of a lower caliber."

"The solution should be building a modern higher education system, in line with international standards and allowing our universities to have autonomy so as to fully integrate into international competition within higher education."