On December 7th, USCET’s Working Group arrived in China for a series of dialogues with a range of stakeholders and counterparts engaged in U.S.-China education and research. The visit marked a continued effort to assess the current landscape for educational and scholarly exchange between both countries and to identify areas where practical steps might help sustain the long-term pipeline of Americans with deep expertise on China.
The dialogue in Beijing was hosted at the Stanford Center at Peking University in partnership with Yenching Academy. Throughout the week, the Working Group also met with a broad range of academic and non-academic stakeholders, including representatives from government, nonprofit, foundation, and private sector communities. Across these discussions, participants emphasized that academic exchange remains strategically important but increasingly complex. Conversations noted the decline in American graduate-level study and long-term research in China. There was broad agreement that sustained language study, fieldwork, and institutional partnerships remain essential to maintaining informed analysis, even as institutions navigate heightened scrutiny and evolving compliance expectations that call for clearer guidance and greater consistency.
Meetings were also held with the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, where the group met with U.S. Ambassador to China David Perdue to exchange views on the broader policy context surrounding educational exchange. Discussions focused on how educational engagement fits within the current bilateral environment, including funding constraints and evolving priorities in the near term.
Conversations with Chinese counterparts in academia and government reflected continued interest in facilitating educational exchange, particularly at the undergraduate and short-term levels, as a way to cultivate interest earlier in students’ academic trajectories. There was consensus that realistic, carefully structured programs may offer the most viable path forward under current conditions.
The Working Group also met with administrators of U.S. academic centers and study abroad programs operating in China. These institutions report reduced activity compared to pre-pandemic years, yet undergraduate participation has begun to recover slowly, while graduate-level mobility remains limited. Participants emphasized that existing institutional frameworks are critical assets that would be difficult to reestablish if lost, and noted that the capacity to host scholars and researchers remains and could be more fully utilized with clearer pathways and stronger support mechanisms.
Throughout the visit, a recurring theme was the importance of articulating educational exchange in terms of national interest and long-term stability. Participants emphasized that cultivating informed expertise strengthens institutional resilience and contributes to more grounded policymaking. While acknowledging present constraints, conversations reflected a cautious but consistent view that maintaining channels of scholarly and educational exchange remains both possible and necessary.