ABSTRACT
Globalisation elevating education as crucial to national economic development encouraged many Chinese students to study overseas in recent decades, but in the twenty-first century, they are migrating at younger ages for pre-university education. The reasons for this new phenomenon are discussed, looking back at recent decades and the changes and choices at government and individual levels. Scholarly research on Chinese students studying in America, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, and Mainlanders in the SARs is explored. It is argued that postgraduates cope better than undergraduates when overseas, but younger pre-university students have the added imperative of accessing universities.
