Managing International Student Education in China: Cross-Cultural Adaptation and Policy Optimization

This paper aims to explore the current status and challenges of international student education in China, with a focus on cross-cultural adaptation and institutional policies optimisation. It comes at a time when China is attracting more international students than ever, as part of the Belt and Road Initiative. However, international students also report significant cross-cultural adaptation challenges, including language issues, insufficient administrative support, and limited opportunities for social integration. This study, using a mixed-method approach that combines quantitative surveys and qualitative interviews, mainly with international students and university administrators from 10 leading Chinese universities, found that language proficiency is the biggest barrier to academic integration (78% of respondents reported it as a major barrier), and institutional support to cross-cultural adaptation often lags behind. For example, only 38% of international students felt that their universities provided sufficient support for cross-cultural adaption. The paper recommends reinforcing language support, providing cross-cultural sensitivity training for staff, and creating structured mentorship programmes to improve international students academic and social integration in China.