22.09.2025 Targeted abroad and shunned at home: Chinese overseas students caught in limbo

For Chinese students, a degree from a US university was once considered a “golden ticket” to coveted jobs back home. But many are now finding that geopolitics is blunting their ambitions. The Trump administration’s threat of visa cancellations – later shelved after a trade-truce phone call between the US president and Chinese leader Xi Jinping in early June – has compounded already swirling uncertainty for Chinese students in the US. And at home, some graduates are finding their experience abroad is raising red flags with employers, who are increasingly casting a suspicious eye over graduates trained at foreign universities worldwide. With their parents footing the hefty bill, some Chinese students are asking if studying abroad is now worth it, especially when the domestic jobs market seems to be favoring homegrown talent. Lian, a 24-year-old master’s degree graduate from southeastern China who spent three years studying in the US, had dreams of working on Wall Street – until his student visa was abruptly revoked last July. Lian, who studied Economic Statistics at a Chinese university, lost his visa under a legacy ban from President Donald Trump’s first term, which effectively denies US visas for Chinese students and researchers from universities believed to be linked to the Chinese military. The move stranded Lian in China during his summer internship, forcing him to dive into the “rat race” of the domestic jobs market. None of his 70-something applications to state-backed banks and financial firms landed him a role, with most not even passing the initial CV screenings, Lian noted. “There are likely political sensitivities at play,” he said, asking CNN not to disclose which Chinese university he studied at because of the sensitivities of the subject. Lian thinks his experience in the US hindered his entry into the public sector – and made applying for a role in a private company unexpectedly challenging. “Being caught up in the dispute between the two countries just left you helpless,” said Lian, whose job-hunting finally paid off in March with an offer from a private firm in Shanghai.

Source: CNN writen by Joyce Jiang
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