Exchange program fosters China-France partnership in talent cultivation

An exchange program between China and France has provided thousands of French students with the opportunity to attend Chinese universities over the past year, giving them a comprehensive and multidimensional view of the country through their studies.

In 2024, China proposed an initiative aimed at bringing the total number of French students in China to more than 10,000 and doubling the number of young Europeans on exchange programs to China within the next three years.

Then, in June of that year, the education ministries of China and France jointly launched the Young Envoys Scholarship (YES) program during the first China-France Education Development Forum held in Paris.

Among the students to take advantage of the program is Mathis Champaigne, a French master's exchange student from the Institute of Higher Electronic Education (ISEP) in Paris. Through YES, he arrived at the School of Artificial Intelligence and Automation, Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST) this September for a five-month study program.

According to the student, the program offered a valuable opportunity to learn about artificial intelligence (AI) from renowned scholars.

"In this country, you are very advanced in this AI field and so you have a lot of researchers, a lot of universities, very involved in this AI research. So for me that was an opportunity to learn from a great professor in a great university," Champaigne said.

Currently, 29 French students from seven French universities are studying at HUST across various majors, for periods ranging from two weeks to a full academic year. For some, a short-term exchange can give way to deeper ambitions.

"I want to extend my semester and stay longer because I feel like here the campus is made for students to have good experience while studying," said another YES program participant of HUST, an undergraduate student from the University of Strasbourg.

Since the initiative was proposed over a year ago, more than 8,300 French students have come to China for exchanges and studies, helping to spur a broader trend across Europe, with about 32,000 students from across the continent having chosen to undertake exchange programs in China.

The program also partners with other Chinese institutions, including the East China University of Science and Technology (ECUST), where exchange students have had similarly successful experiences.

"So, the YES program is a really good program to study abroad and you can choose many different topics and minors. I think that's the best way to see China," said Paul Ferrigno, another YES program participant of ECUST, a graduate student from Montpellier Higher College of Chemistry.

"And engineers in the future, they will have to see by themselves how this country is changing very quickly, how this country is very good in innovation, research, technology, and finally how China is addressing global warming and sustainable development," said Jacques Mercadier, French dean of the International Elite Engineering School of ECUST.

Exchange program fosters China-France partnership in talent cultivation

A record number of Americans left the United States last year, with data from the Brookings Institution showing between 210,000 and 405,000 people voluntarily moved overseas, marking the first time in at least half a century that more departed than arrived.

For decades, the U.S. was seen as a place to pursue a better life, often called "The American Dream." But surveys suggest many now see their future elsewhere.

A Gallup poll found about 20 percent of Americans would like to move abroad, while the Association of American Residents Overseas estimates 5.5 million Americans were already living overseas in 2024, a figure that has since grown.

Jen Barnett, an expat planning coach, said that she had always wanted to live abroad. She moved to Merida, Mexico a decade ago.

"I knew that there was life beyond Huffman, Alabama, and I wanted to see what was out there. In 2016 after the [presidential] election, I said, okay, let's do this," she said.

In 2022 she co-founded Expatsi, a company that helps Americans relocate. She says interest has surged since U.S. President Donald Trump was elected to a second term in 2024.

"It is not as simple as one politician. I think it is the realization that the U.S. is not what we thought it was and a feeling that the social contract has been broken," she said.

Mexico remains the most common destination, followed by Canada. Increasingly, expats are also choosing Uruguay, Costa Rica and Panama in Latin America, as well as Germany and Portugal in Europe.

Many cite crime and gun violence at home, while seeking lower living costs and affordable healthcare abroad.

"The amount of money that you need to retire is millions in the U.S. to guarantee that you can have health care, god forbid you need assisted living, which might cost 10,000 or 15,000 U.S. dollars a month. In a place like Portugal, you could have full-time live-in care for 2,000 dollars a month," she said.

Remote work and technology have made relocation easier, though language barriers, cultural differences and bureaucracy remain challenges.

"Most of the challenges that you face are internal. I think people just need to see others doing it," she said.

Many expats hold visas or dual citizenship, but growing numbers are making the move permanent.

Before 2009, only 200 to 400 Americans renounced their citizenship each year. In 2025, that figure was just under 5,000, with a backlog of about 30,000 awaiting appointments to formally give up their U.S. citizenship.

Record number of Americans moving abroad amid rising cost and discontent