China hosting ICM 2030 would inspire world-class math students: renowned mathematician

China's hosting of the 2030 International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM 2030), the world's largest mathematics conference, will help encourage more young students across the country devote themselves to the mathematics field, according to Shing-Tung Yau, a former prize winner at the prestigious event

Yau, who won the event's coveted Fields medal back in 1982, is now helping lead China's bid to host the ICM in 2030, aiming to inspire young students to take the lead in global math research.

In an interview with the China Global Television Network (CGTN), Yau, who is also a professor at China's acclaimed Tsinghua University, said that he has seen the country's efforts in cultivating talent paying off, as there has been a rise in world-class math students from China.

"China has trained their students far better now than before. We have almost, I would say, the world's best high school students and undergraduate students in mathematics. And they are able to study within China themselves. So a major event like ICM happening in China, especially in Beijing city, it will be great encouragement for them to develop their own way to learn how mathematicians should behave in China," he said.

China faces competition from both Japan and the UK who are also bidding to host the grand event. However, Yau is quite confident that his team will win the right to host the ICM competition.

With China seeking to pull out all the stops on developing homegrown talent, Yau also noted that many Chinese students have a passion for math, while the country has been investing more in basic science.

"We have about, each year, 3,000 young talents, I mentioned, these 12-year-old students all over the country. There are 3,000 young students of that age who show strong interest to come into mathematics. So after five years we are talking a large number of good students. So these are one of the major differences between us and England or Japan. And beyond that, the country is getting richer in investing into basic science," he said.

China hosting ICM 2030 would inspire world-class math students: renowned mathematician

The U.S. State Department announced Wednesday that it is pausing immigrant visa processing from 75 countries.

The measure will apply to "countries whose migrants take welfare from the American people at unacceptable rates. The freeze will remain active until the U.S. can ensure that new immigrants will not extract wealth from the American people," the department said on X.

The pause impacts countries including Somalia, Haiti, Iran and Eritrea, "whose immigrants often become public charges on the United States upon arrival," said the State Department.

Earlier on Wednesday, the department announced in a memo that it would suspend visa processing for 75 countries, including Somalia, Russia, Afghanistan, Brazil, Iran, Iraq, Egypt, Nigeria, Thailand and Yemen, according to a Fox News report.

The pause will begin Jan. 21 and will continue indefinitely until the department conducts a reassessment of visa processing, the report said. The move came after the White House announced on Tuesday that it is ending temporary protected status for Somali immigrants amid fraud allegations in Minnesota.

On Monday, the State Department announced on social media that it had revoked over 100,000 visas since U.S. President Donald Trump took office nearly a year ago.

In November 2025, Trump announced his intention to permanently suspend immigration from what he described as "Third World countries", following the death of a National Guard member after being shot near the White House by an Afghan national.

U.S. freezes immigrant visa processing from 75 countries