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China-Singapore relations
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In FocusChina’s STEM students turn to Singapore as Western study options shrink

City state’s scholarships for students from China form an early-stage talent pipeline into its highly skilled workforce, experts say

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Illustration: Quoc Huy Truong
Alyssa ChenandCaroline Lin

For generations, China’s brightest science and technology minds followed a well-worn path: board a Westbound flight and claim a seat at a globally renowned university.

That once-reliable trajectory has fractured. Escalating US-China tech competition and tightening immigration policies across the “big four” study destinations – Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States – have redrawn the map for global student mobility.
As Western nations impose ever-stricter access controls and security protocols on their laboratories, a less conspicuous but significant shift is gathering momentum. A growing number of China’s top STEM talent – scientists, technologists, engineers and mathematicians – are quietly redirecting their ambitions southwards, with Singapore emerging as one of the primary destinations.
The National University of Singapore is among the city state’s universities vying to attract the brightest Chinese STEM students. Photo: Handout
The National University of Singapore is among the city state’s universities vying to attract the brightest Chinese STEM students. Photo: Handout

Singapore’s China scholarship pipeline

Among the pull factors is a decades-long, state-backed scholarship programme aimed at channelling top Chinese science students to Singapore: the Senior Middle 2 (SM2) scholarship programme.

Launched in 1997 as a joint initiative between the Singaporean and Chinese ministries of education, the programme recruits high-achieving second-year high school (Grade 11) youngsters from China to study at the city state’s top institutions, including the National University of Singapore and Nanyang Technological University (NTU).

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