Cooc-Based Visualization Analysis of Literature on Research Hotspots and Trends in China’s Education for International Students over the Past Decade ()
1. Introduction
The education of China’s international students is an important link of the national strategy, a significant element of China’s opening up, a critical pathway of international diplomacy, a vital channel of people-to-people exchanges, and a great approach of personnel training under the Belt and Road Initiative. It is conducive to establishing a good international image of China, spreading Chinese culture and telling Chinese stories well (Meng, 2019) . According to the statistics from the Ministry of Education of China, the number of international students in China exceeded 440,000 in 2016, and a total of 489,200 foreign students studied in Chinese institutions of higher learning in 2017, making China the world’s third and Asia’s largest destination for international students. Under this background, Chinese government attaches more importance to international students education in serving China’s social and economic development and enhancing cultural soft power. Accordingly, relevant studies on this topic are also very rich, covering such key research topics as sorting out the policy of education for China’s international students, exploring the quality of education for studying in China, and the development of education for international students. In addition, on the basis of thinking about the development of international students education in China, scholars also focus on summarizing the experience of overseas education from other leading countries. However, in general, the existing research results of international students education in China focus on elaborating and mining one aspect, lacking of overall thinking and conducting intensive studies, and the research method is relatively single, mainly qualitative research methods.
This paper takes the study of international students education as the research object and utilizes Cooc 13.4 software to make a statistical analysis on the relevant research literature from 2012 to 2022. Through the combination of visualization software CO-occurrence (Cooc) 13.4 and content analysis method, the research hotspots and trends in this field were understood and mastered, and the development status of overseas students’ education in China was presented. The number of publications, research institutions, authors, journals, keywords, hotspots, evolutionary trends and frontiers in the field of overseas education research in China are visualized in order to provide references for further promoting its development.
2. Data Sources and Analysis Tools
In order to comprehensively analyze the current research situation and development trend of China’s international students education, this paper takes the periodicals of education for international students in China collected by CNKI, Wanfang, VIP and other databases as the research object, uses the advanced retrieval function, searches with the theme of “education for international studentsin China”, selects the “advanced retrieval” type, and searches from January 1, 2012 to October 28, 2022. A total of 5083 documents were retrieved. Exported in Refworks format, merged, checked, deleted, extracted and duplicated by Cooc software, and eliminated invalid records such as meeting minutes, news, information and reports. Finally, a total of 3583 valid documents were screened out.
In this paper, Cooc software is used to process literature data, and the number of papers, research institutions and authors, journals and so on are taken as the main indicators to make a systematic analysis. Through the visual analysis of the changing law of literature and high-frequency keywords, we can understand the current research situation of international students education in China, reveal the research hotspots in the field of China’s international students education, and explore the research progress and trend of studying abroad in China.
3. Analysis of the Current Situation of China’s International Students Research in China
3.1. Analysis of the Number of Papers Issued
It can be seen from Figure 1 that from 2012 to 2022, the number of literatures on China’s international students education showed an overall increasing trend. Through the analysis of the literature published in this sample period, 165 articles were published in 2012, which shows that domestic scholars have begun to study in the field of international students education in China. 2012-2015 is a slow growth period, 2015-2018 is a stable growth period, 2018-2020 is a rapid growth period, and 2020-2022 is a recession period. From the trend line, the number of articles published in China is on the rise from 2012 to 2020. At this stage, scholars pay more attention to the research of studying abroad in China, which is due to the increasing attention of the state and government departments to China’s international students education and the introduction of a series of policies and measures to support the development of studying in China. In July 2010, the Ministry of Education issued the Outline of the National Medium and Long-Term Education Reform and Development Plan (2010-2020), proposing to promote the sustained and healthy development of international students in China and improve the internationalization level of education in China. In September 2010, the Ministry of Education issued the Plan for Studying in China, which further clarified the development goals, main tasks, development directions and other specific matters of studying in China, and is an important guiding document for the development of studying in China. In July, 2016, the Ministry of Education issued the Education Action for Promoting the Co-construction of “the belt and road initiative”, and implemented the “Silk Road” Study Promotion Plan, which provided a new institutional guarantee for the development of studying in China. In September 2018, the Ministry of Education issued the Quality Standard of Higher Education for International Students in China (Trial), which serves as the basic criterion for guiding and standardizing the education for international students in ordinary colleges and universities across the country, so as to promote the healthy and sustainable development of the education for international students in China. During this period, the research literature on China’s international students education grew rapidly, and the number of articles published reached the peak of 524 in 2020. After 2020, the number of articles published on China’s international students education is decreasing. The author believes that there are two main reasons. First, China’s Ministry of Education issued a notification in May 2020, which indicates that not blindly pursuing internationalization indicators and the scale of international students in China, and thus the popularity of research on international students education in China has declined, resulting in sharp desrease in the number of papers published in this field. Second, due to the influence of COVID-19 pandemic, there are many restrictions on the flow of cross-border students, which has an impact on the education of studying in China.
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Figure 1. Number of published papers on education of international students research in China from 2012 to 2022.
3.2. Analysis of Research Institutions
Based on the statistics of literature research institutions, for the sake of the accuracy of the data, only the first publishing institution is counted. The results show that international students education research institutions in China are mainly concentrated in universities. From 2012 to 2022, there are 10 research institutions with more than 25 publications in the field of China’s international students education, and Beijing Normal University has the largest number of publications, as shown in Table 1. The number of published literatures was 44. Geographically, most of these institutions belong to the economically developed provinces and cities in the eastern region, which occupy the location advantage and are the main destinations for international students to study in China. In addition, the university has a full range of professional categories and can provide English-taught courses, which can meet the learning needs of international students in China. Therefore, these institutions pay more attention to the education of international students in China, and the research in related fields is at the forefront of universities.
3.3. Analysis of Authors
Based on the statistics of the authors, taking the first author as the reference, the basic situation of Chinese authors with more than 6 papers on China’s international students education from 2012 to 2022 is summarized, as shown in Table 2. It can be found that the authors of published literature in this field are all affiliated with universities, serving as the main place for training international students coming to China. Further analyzing the authors’ affiliation, the specific working departments of these authors are the School of International Education, the International Student Center, the Institute for International Dispute Prevention and Settlement, the School of Foreign Languages, and the Department of Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language, etc., which are closely related to the teaching, management, and research on international students, it prompted the researcher to carry out relevant studies on this topic. The research in this field has been in a mature stage and a research system was formed. In terms of the number of published papers, there are 10 authors with a total of 6 or more published papers, and the top 4 authors have each published 10 papers. The overall difference in the number of published papers is not significant, which indicates that scholars’ research on the education of international students in China needs to be further strengthened.
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Table 1. Number of publications (≥25) on education of international students research in China from 2012 to 2022.
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Table 2. Number of papers published by authors of education research on international students in China from 2012 to 2022 (≥6).
3.4. Analysis of Journal
According to the statistical analysis of journals published on education research of international students in China, as shown in Figure 2, the top five journals in the field of international students education published in China from 2012 to 2022 are Education and Teaching Forum 112, World Education Information 73, China and Foreign Exchange 60, Science and Education Literature Exchange 53, and Education Modernization 47. According to the catalog of CSSCI source journals from 2021 to 2022, the top five journals are non-core journals, with a total of 345 published papers, accounting for 9.6% of the total published papers, indicating that the top journals have low academic influence and cannot reflect the latest research results in this field. The sample literature comes from 1055 journals, and the journal sources are scattered, of which only 94 are journals included in the Chinese Social Sciences Citation Index (CSSCI) database, accounting for only 8.9%, indicating that the depth and breadth of research in this field are insufficient, and the quality of relevant research needs to be improved.
4. Analysis of Research Hotspots and Evolution Trends in the Field of Education of International Students in China
Keywords reflect the current research hotspot, focus and development direction of a certain field. Through the statistics of high-frequency keywords, we can accurately grasp the theme, status quo and hot spots of a certain research field (He, 2018) . Statistics on the keywords that are frequently used in the field of education for international students in China can help us understand the research hotspots in this field.
4.1. Analysis of Co-Occurrence of Keywords in Education Research on International Students in China
This paper extracts keywords from 3583 literatures with sample data, and obtains 4486 keywords in total. In order to more clearly show the frequency of hot keywords in China’s education research on international students in China, the keywords with frequency ≥ 30 in the literature are statistically summarized, as shown in Table 3. Among them, “China’s international students education” is the word with the highest frequency, far higher than other keywords, indicating that it is the core content of education research on international students in China and highly consistent with the research theme. The frequency of words such as “Chinese international education”, “ideological and political education”, “postgraduate education” and “preparatory education” comes after it, indicating that it is closely related to the constituent elements of the education of international students in China. Finally, key words such as “cross-cultural”, “Chinese culture”, “educational internationalization” and “internationalization” indicate that under the background of educational internationalization, the dissemination and promotion of Chinese culture is of great significance in the education research of international students in China.
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Figure 2. Number of articles published in periodicals related to education research of Chinese international students from 2012 to 2022.
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Table 3. Keywords with frequency ≥ 30 in the research literature on education for international students in China.
4.2. Analysis of Specific Hotspots on the Education Research of International Students in China
Combined with the statistical analysis of key words frequency in Table 3, the research hotspots of international students education in China mainly include: current situation, development strategies and paths of China’s international students education; the cultivation of talents in teaching Chinese as a foreign language, the influence of the Belt and Road Initiative on international students education, and the education management of international students in China from a cross-cultural perspective.
1) Current situation, development strategies and paths of China’s international students education.
Since the “Study in China Plan” was issued in 2010, the education of studying in China has entered a stage of large-scale development, with the number of international students in China increasing and the number of colleges and universities receiving and training international students in China increasing. At the same time of large-scale development, the education of international students in China is facing the challenge of high-quality and conformal development. Although China’s international students education has more than 70 years of history, but due to the geographical location, economic development level, regional differences in higher education and other factors, the development of international students education in China is unbalanced, the quality assurance system is in the stage of exploration and gradual improvement, restricting the process of China’s international students education into high quality development. Scholars have carried out relevant research on the education of international students in China from multiple dimensions such as the distribution of foreign students in different countries, training mode, curriculum construction, ideological and political education, analyzed the current problems, and put forward corresponding strategies in an attempt to provide references for the further development of overseas education in China. In the article Implementing Four Development Strategies to Improve the Education Level of International Students in China, published in China Higher Education in 2013 by Luan Fengchi, aiming at the current situation and existing problems of the education of international students in China, she put forward the future development strategies of the education of overseas students in China such as “brand strategy, discipline strategy, market strategy and environment strategy (Luan, 2013) ”. Jia Zhaoyi proposed in the Path of Education for overseas students in China in the New Era, published in China Higher Education, “Adhere to the strategic guidance and unswervingly develop the education for overseas students in China; Adhere to innovation-driven, focusing on the innovation of the education training model of international students in China; Adhere to improve the quality of education for overseas students in China by improving quality and efficiency; Adhere to ‘governance and empowerment’ and the establishment of a more complete work system of international students education by colleges and universities (Jia, 2021) ”, forming an important guidance for promoting the improvement of the efficiency of higher education for China’s international students education, injected new impetus for promoting the education of studying in China in an all-round way, and led the development direction of China’s international students education.
2) The cultivation of talents in teaching Chinese as a foreign language.
The history of Chinese international education in China can be traced back to the 1950’s. With the gradual improvement of China’s international influence and comprehensive national strength, as well as the increasing tide of “Chinese fever” in the world, Chinese international education has been further developed. In 2012, the Ministry of Education issued the Catalogue of Undergraduate Majors in Colleges and Universities (2012), which merged the original three majors of Chinese as a foreign language, Chinese Language and Culture, and Chinese studies into international Chinese Language education. More and more colleges and universities have set up undergraduate majors of international Chinese language education. Master’s and Doctoral programs in Teaching Chinese to Speakers of other languages were launched in 2008 and 2018 respectively. Under the background of the booming development of teaching Chinese as a foreign language, universities have begun to recruit international students to study bachelor’s and master’s programs in order to train professionals in the field of teaching Chinese as a foreign language, in order to meet the demand for professionals in the field of teaching Chinese as a foreign language at home and abroad. Aiming at the common goal of cultivating application-oriented and international talents with solid basic theoretical knowledge of Chinese language and good humanistic qualities (Gao, 2021) , all colleges and universities explore how to cultivate talents of international Chinese language education under the new situation, which also encourages scholars to further strengthen relevant researches on international Chinese language education and promote the in-depth development of international Chinese language education.
3) The impact of the Belt and Road Initiative on students studying in China.
In 2013, China put forward the Belt and Road Initiative, and the educational exchanges with countries along the Belt and Road have been deepened. The number of students studying in China from countries along the Belt and Road has increased rapidly, and domestic scholars have begun to conduct in-depth research on the education field of students studying in China under the Belt and Road Initiative. As the new growth point of studying in China, the number of students from countries along the Belt and Road has shown a high average annual growth rate, and is still in the stage of rapid growth. With the continuous advancement of the “Belt and Road” initiative, the number and proportion of students from countries along the Belt and Road may continue to increase significantly (Li, Lin, & Liu, 2019) . The “Belt and Road” Initiative has brought new development opportunities for studying in China. In order to help students study in China, China set up the “Silk Road” Chinese Government Scholarship in 2016 to specifically fund students from countries along the Belt and Road, further promoting the development of higher education in countries along the Belt and Road to study in China. The continuous promotion of the Belt and Road Initiative has not only promoted the development of education for students studying in China, but also played an important role in serving the national strategy. For one thing, it cultivates needed professional talents for the countries along the Belt and Road, and for another, it enhances the exchanges and cooperation in the field of education between China and the countries along the Belt and Road, and promotes the globalization of China’s higher education.
4) The education management of international students in China from a cross-cultural perspective.
In the process of the development of international student education in China from large-scale development to high-quality and conformal development, the number of international students enrolled in various colleges and universities has increased. It has become an urgent issue for training colleges to explore and think about the education management of international students in China from a cross-cultural perspective. Due to cultural differences, language barriers, living habits, religious beliefs and other differences, international students in China are faced with the problem of cross-cultural adaptation, and the school’s education management of students is particularly important. In order to cope with the problems that international students may encounter in cross-cultural adaptation and help them integrate into Chinese campus and culture faster and better, universities take this as the research object, analyze the influencing factors in cross-cultural adaptation, and put forward corresponding countermeasures. Li Xin believes that “effective communication and understanding of international students” cultural background; strengthen training to improve students’ Chinese language skills; innovative forms of activities to enrich the ways for international students to understand Chinese culture (Li, 2016) can effectively improve the cross-cultural adaptability of international students. Other scholars have also put forward strategies to solve the problem of cross-cultural adaptation from different perspectives, with a view to improving the experience of overseas students studying in China and continuously improving the level of education management for international students in China.
4.3. Analysis of the Evolution Trend of Education Research on International Students in China
Based on the above analysis, Cooc software is used to draw the knowledge graph by weighted time zone view for the evolution path of keywords (as shown in Figure 3). Through further combing and summarizing, it is found that the evolution trend of domestic education research on international students in China in the past decade can be generally divided into four stages.
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Figure 3. Evolution path map of keywords in the field of education for intenational students in China.
In the first stage, from 2012 to 2016, the number of papers published on education of international students in China totaled 1110, accounting for about 30.1% of the total number of papers published in the past decade, indicating that the topics of education research on international students in China during this period are relatively scattered and have not yet formed a scale effect. Scholars have explored a certain problem found in the specific development of education for international students in China from various aspects, and the research in this field is in the initial stage of preliminary exploration. The second stage is from 2016 to 2018, and the research focuses on the education of international students, teaching Chinese as a foreign language, cross-cultural adaptation, educational management, existing problems, countermeasures and strategies, internationalization and so on. He Yusang analyzed the management mode of international students in China from three subjects: universities, government departments and social market, and studied the development trend of the education management mode of international students in universities and colleges (He, 2016) . Zhou Quan takes the characteristics of academic Chinese in the field of information science and engineering technology in higher vocational colleges as the research object, and proposes to strengthen the construction of the curriculum system of international Chinese education (Zhou, 2017) . Jia Zhaoyi believes that the connotation of cross-cultural adaptation mainly includes the adaptation of daily life, the adaptation of learning and education environment, the adaptation of social environment and interpersonal communication, and the adaptation of institutional culture. Through the measures taken by the state, universities, international student management institutions, international student management cadres and other aspects, the support system for international students’ cross-cultural adaptation should be built (Jia, 2017) . Liu Jin and Chen Jin studied the development course of higher education internationalization in China in the past 40 years of reform and opening up, and put forward corresponding measures and suggestions according to the characteristics of higher education internationalization of the “Belt and Road” (Liu & Chen, 2018) .
The third stage is from 2018 to 2020. Compared with the first two stages, the research in this stage is more in-depth, focusing on the improvement of the education quality of international students in China. New research hotspots such as higher education, ideological and political education, assimilation management have emerged, and related research fields have been continuously expanded. Liu Baocun and Wang Tingyu reviewed the progress of China’s education for studying in China since the 21st century, analyzed the existing problems in China’s international students education, and then put forward suggestions on the development of international students education in China, including improving the quality of education for studying in China, because it is directly related to the international reputation and influence of China’s higher education (Liu & Wang, 2020) . Xue Mei summed up the problems of ideological and political education in colleges and universities and analyzed the causes, combined with the work of Shanghai University, Jiangsu University and South China University of Technology to carry out ideological and political education, on this basis, put forward the countermeasures to strengthen the ideological and political education in colleges and universities to study in China (Xue, 2020) . Yan Bingchun and Chen Yiqun analyzed the problems and countermeasures in the education of international students education in China under assimilation from the five aspects of educational affairs, high-level training, student work, overseas education institute and international students’ association, and built a new international students’ management model with assimilation as the main body through the coordination of the five departments (Yan & Chen, 2020) . The fourth stage is 2020-2022. In this stage, due to the outbreak of COVID-19, a new research focus has emerged in the post-epidemic era. Scholars discussed the experience and practices of education for international students in China in the post-epidemic era from the aspects of education management, tuition management and online teaching. Yang Yingbao and Pan Xin believe that the innovative mode of overseas students training in the post-epidemic era should be improved (Yang & Pan, 2021) from the aspects of whole process management, the internationalization of teaching staff, curriculum system reform, teaching mode reform and digital platform construction. Ren Yifei studied the current situation and problems of online education for international students in China since the epidemic, and proposed to think about and improve the online teaching mode from four aspects: teaching setting, teaching mode, teaching resources and teaching space, so as to guarantee the teaching of international students in the post-epidemic era (Ren, 2021) .
5. Frontier Analysis of Research in the Field of Education for International Students in China
Through the research frontier, we can understand the evolution trend of each stage of the field, predict the future development trend and research hot spots. Figure 4 clearly shows 10 emerging keywords in the field of education for international students in China. Scholars can understand the research hotspots in this field in each period and clarify the evolution trend of education for international students in China in the last decade as a whole. “Countermeasures” has attracted attention since the slow growth stage of international students education in China since 2013; the popularity of “problem” appeared in 2014-2015, indicating a close relationship between the two. At this stage, the mode of “current situation-problem-countermeasure” is more common in the educational research literature of international students in China. The popularity of “education internationlization” was concentrated in 2017; the popularity and duration of “The Belt and Road” and “cultivation” are crossed from 2018 to 2019; “assimilation management” and “ideological and political education”are hot research fields in the past three years, and the heat may continue in the next few years. Combined with the further analysis of research hotspots and research literature on education for international students in China, it can be predicted that the research frontiers of education for international students in China include assimilation management, ideological and political education, post-epidemic era and so on.
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Figure 4. Top 10 emergant keywords in the field of education for international students in China.
First, assimilation management is a widely used management model for foreign students in the world. Chinese universities recognize and explore the implementation path and method of assimilation management in practice. In 2010, the Ministry of Educations Study in China Plan on the education management of international students in China requires colleges and universities to “actively promote the assimilation of management and services between Chinese students and international students”. Assimilation management involves all aspects of the education, teaching, daily management and life management of international students in China, which should be carried out with reference to the management mode of Chinese students. On the premise of respecting cultural differences, international students in China should be better integrated into the campus culture, which not only highlights the internationalization characteristics of the university, but also helps the university to bring international students in China into the unified management track. In recent years, under the background of the rapid development of the internationalization of higher education in China, the number of international students in colleges and universities has been growing, and assimilation management has gradually become the inevitable choice for the management of international students in colleges and universities. The path of assimilation management has been actively explored, and scholars have also conducted research on this issue. Lin Songyue and Liu Jin, through interviews with 7 “double first-class” universities, believe that “lack of enrollment policy and enrollment system design for international students in China, defects in education and teaching management, and imperfect management mechanism” are the main factors affecting assimilation management. It is necessary to “establish and improve the qualification examination mechanism for international students in China, improve the education and training system for international students in China, improve the daily management system for international students in China, and organically combine ‘enrollment, training and management’” (Lin & Liu, 2022) to promote the effective development of assimilation management.
Second, ideological and political education is a necessary link in the education and training of international students in China, an important content of talent training in colleges and universities, and an integral part of the work of educating in colleges and universities in the new era. In view of the characteristics of students studying in China, the main goal of ideological and political education is to improve international students’ sense of identity with China’s policies and Chinese civilization, and to cultivate international talents who know China, are friends with China and love China. By carrying out ideological and political education for international students in China, guiding international students to have a correct cognition and understanding of China, so that they can become ambassadors of cultural and people-to-people exchanges between China and other countries, which will help spread Chinese culture to the world and show a real, three-dimensional and comprehensive China, which is of great significance to enhancing China’s international influence and is also a concrete practice to serve the country’s diplomatic strategy. In the new era, ideological and political education in colleges and universities has been given a new mission, and the ideological and political education of international students in China has ushered in a research upsurge. Cao Jingwen explored the connotation of ideological and political education of international students in China, and believed that in the new era, the ideological and political education of international students in Chinese colleges and universities still has problems such as insufficient understanding of the importance, no systematic formation, single method, and insufficient teacher quality. We should enhance the understanding of the ideological and political education of international students in China, enrich the educational methods, and strengthen the training of teachers’ ideological and political work (Cao, 2021) . Strengthening the ideological and political work of international students in China is the inevitable demand of the development of the times. Colleges and universities should combine the latest development trend, constantly innovate ideas and methods, enrich the content of ideological and political education for international students, improve the level of ideological education for international students in China, and promote the realization of the educational goal.
Third, the outbreak of COVID-19 has broken the normal mechanism of studying in China, and the education of international students will face new challenges and opportunities in the post-epidemic era. In the face of the new situation of the epidemic, colleges and universities, based on the actual situation of the education of international students in China, have studied and innovated management methods and countermeasures according to the new situation of enrollment, teaching and management, so as to ensure the effective implementation of the education of overseas students in China. The epidemic has affected the internationalization of higher education, but China’s excellent performance in the global fight against the epidemic has demonstrated the advantages of China’s system and the style of a big country, which has become a new motivation for students from some countries to choose to study in China. Liu Guiyu believes that in the post-epidemic era, colleges and universities should actively carry forward the excellent traditional Chinese cultural concepts in the education management of international students in China, pay attention to ideological guidance, educational innovation and practical experience, and effectively improvethe ways and methods of education management of international students in colleges and universities in China (Liu, 2022) . In the post-epidemic era, improving the training quality and level of international students in China and promoting the transformation and upgrading of education for overseas students in China are new topics that universities need to study urgently.
6. Research Conclusions and Reflections.
In this paper, Cooc software and related metrology statistical methods were used to visually analyze 3583 literature articles on education research of overseas students in China published in CNKI, Wanfang and VIP databases from 2012 to 2022, and sorted out the current situation and hot spots in the field of education research of international students in China in the past decade, drawing the following conclusions:
Firstly, according to the analysis of literature samples, the research fields of education for international students in China are mainly concentrated in pedagogy, management, economics, journalism and communication, which reflect the interdisciplinary trend, but most of them are limited to the problems encountered in the concrete practice of education for international students in China, lack of relevant theoretical basis, lack of breadth and depth, and are mainly written descriptions, which belong to the category of qualitative research. According to Bammer (Bammer, 2012) , interdisciplinary research has the following functions: to increase basic understanding and cognition; as a source of innovation; help to solve complex problems in the real world. Strengthening interdisciplinary research in the field of education of international students in China, examining problems from multiple perspectives and introducing research ideas and methods of other disciplines can avoid the disadvantages of one-sided study of a single discipline, and then propose more comprehensive solutions, produce theories and coping strategies with innovative value, promote the cross and integration of disciplines, and improve the research level in the field of international students education in China. In addition, interdisciplinary research can help scholars form cooperative teams, stimulate their creative thinking to a greater extent, expand their horizons, and play an important role in improving the quality and efficiency of international students education in China.
Secondly, from 2012 to 2022, there were 296 articles published in CSSCI Chinese core journals, accounting for only 8.2% of the total literature, indicating that the number of high-quality literature in this field is small, and the academic influence of research results is not high. Based on the analysis of scholars in the field of international students education in China, it is found that most of the scholars with a high number of publications are managers or teachers of Chinese as a foreign language engaged in education of international students in China, with a low proportion of professional researchers, relatively weak academic research force and lack of high-level research results. In order to improve the research level in the field of international students education in China, scholars and research institutions should strengthen cooperation and exchanges, form research forces, set up research teams, give full play to their respective advantages, expand the influence of China’s international students education research, and build a brand with high-level research capabilities.