US visa restrictions affecting Mainland Chinese and Hong Kong students have led to significant annual drops in permitted student numbers. However, a consultant suggests that the effect of these policy changes may be temporary.

A US clampdown on visas for mainland Chinese and Hong Kong students last May led to year-on-year declines of 42 per cent and 35 per cent in the number of permits granted, but a consultant has said the impact has been short-lived. One PhD student from the mainland said US President Donald Trump’s actions had led to him giving up an offer to study at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to enrol at the University of Hong Kong (HKU) last year after he found America’s once-vibrant...