Over 274,439 Chinese studied at American colleges from 2013 to 2014, nearly one-third of its total international student population, according to the Institute for International Education (IIE).

Will years of studying and living in America change Chinese students’ mind towards their home country? Most people might think the answer is “Yes”, and especially for many of those who’d never studied abroad. They may hold that few Chinese students would be willing to return to China, thinking of America’s soft power.

Yes, Chinese overseas students do change their impression towards China, but in a positive way.

In an online survey by America’s Foreign Policy (FP) on December 7, around 55% of 186 Chinese nationals who had studied in the United States responded that their view of China improved after their staying in America. 22% reported more negative views.

Haifeng Huang, a Chinese professor of political science at University of California, told FP that when the students spend time abroad, many have come to understand that “not everything in foreign lands is as shiny as they had imagined”.

Although the FP investigation indicates that 60% of the respondents also hold more positive view of the United States, “but for most respondents, increased esteem for the United States did not occur to the detriment of China’s image,” the report said.