Study on the Economic Effects of Opening Up Guangxi Higher Education to the ASEAN

With the promotion of the “Belt and Road” Initiative, education cooperation between China and ASEAN countries has increased, highlighting the opening of education to the outside world. In this context, exploring the opening-up pattern of higher education to ASEAN countries and the regional differences it shows, as well as the positive catalytic effect of international student mobility on regional economic development, is particularly urgent and important. By using CiteSpace, we find that the economic effect of opening up higher education to the outside world has become the focus of academic attention. Closely following this hotspot, this paper analyses the current situation of Guangxi's higher education in opening up to ASEAN countries and finds that although Guangxi has achieved initial results in attracting international students from ASEAN countries, there is still much room for improvement in terms of improving the quality of education and teaching and enhancing economic attractiveness. Moreover, opening up to ASEAN countries not only directly promotes the growth of Guangxi's outward foreign direct investment but also greatly promotes mutual benefits and creates a win‒win situation between the two sides in many fields, such as education and cultural exchanges and economic and trade exchanges. Given this, the government should promote trade and investment facilitation, encourage RMB settlement, promote the integration of industry and education clusters, and create an innovation highland for higher education openness and cooperation toward ASEAN countries.