International student mobility (ISM) has experienced explosive growth over the past 20 years (OECD, 2024). However, recent global disruptions, including the COVID-19 pandemic, wars, and environmental disasters, have reshaped ISM's direction (Glass & Cruz, 2022), moving it towards a multipolar orientation. That is, a wider range of “off-beat” destinations often situated in the Global South, such as China (Gao et al., 2024), Singapore (Yang & Lu, 2025), and South Korea (Wei, 2024), has gained visibility alongside long-dominant “on-beat” destinations predominantly located in the Global North. This draws attention to the dynamics of ISM and the lived experiences of international students in these “off-beat” destinations.

China exemplifies this reconfiguration. Traditionally recognised as a major sending country, China has increasingly positioned itself as an important receiving country for international students (Yang et al., 2025). Through policies promoting outbound mobility and the branding of “Study in China” (MOE, 2024), studies show that the main attractions of international higher education in China are affordability and scholarships, China’s economic growth, institutional reputation, political relationships with home countries, and perceived career opportunity (Gbollie & Gong, 2020;). Among these studies, they tend to treat international students in China as a broad, undifferentiated category, paying limited attention to within-group variation (Yang et al., 2025), for example, how programme type and disciplinary context shape decision-making. This matters because what students seek, and what they evaluate as “value,” can differ substantially across fields and cohorts.

MBA programmes, widely regarded as vehicles for international experiential learning and global mobility (Ryan et al., 2013), serve as a unique and important research context for understanding the aforementioned differences in international students in China. MBA programmes typically recruit students who have a minimum of 3 years of work experience or relevant managerial experience (Dakduk et al., 2016), and are driven by specific career goals, such as improving managerial skills, enhancing career prospects, expanding social prospects and networking, and increasing earning potential (Wilkins et al., 2018). This means the MBA cohort is supposed to be relatively mature, as opposed to fresh graduates, and to have a better sense of what they want and how to go about it, suggesting a distinctive approach to decision-making. Further, MBA programme selections are often shaped by academic merit and the university and/or business school’s reputation (Blackburn, 2011). Yet the global MBA landscape – and much of the research on MBA students – remains centred on the Global North, especially the United States and the UK (QS Top Universities, 2025, September 17; Wilkins et al., 2018). Despite the growing visibility of Chinese business schools in global MBA rankings (QS Top Universities, 2025, September 17), we still know relatively little about why international students choose to pursue an MBA in China, as distinct from studying in China more generally. To address this gap, this paper sheds light on an MBA programme at a top-ranked Chinese university and draws on semi-structured interviews with ten international students whose home countries broadly reflect major sending regions to China - primarily Asia and Africa (Yang et al., 2025). The following question guides this study:

Q1: Why did international students choose to study an MBA programme in China?

This study was qualitatively designed, enabling in-depth exploration of complex phenomena within their real-world contexts. It was conducted in a two-year, full-time MBA programme at a university in Beijing (referred to as “China University” for confidentiality). According to its website, the MBA program collaborates with a renowned Western institution to equip future business leaders with management education and insights into China's economic landscape. The program immerses students in China’s business environment through local leaders' lectures, case studies, and site visits to major Chinese companies, providing a nuanced understanding of market dynamics and business challenges. Additionally, students access a global network of exchange partners in over 20 countries. Through this exchange, students can study abroad for one semester while earning credits and paying tuition at China University. This blend of local and international learning prepares students for leadership roles in diverse cultural contexts. Following approval from the University Human Research Ethics Committee, the first author approached potential participants via personal social networks, employing purposive sampling. The criterion for participant recruitment in this study was that participants were current full-time international students studying the China University MBA programme in 2024. From November 2024 to April 2025, the first author conducted one-on-one, online semi-structured interviews with each participant. Each interview lasted 60 to 90 minutes and was audio-recorded with participant consent. Of the ten participants, nine students were interviewed in English, while one student from Malaysia (Liam) was interviewed in Chinese, as per their preference. The interviews aimed to elicit detailed accounts of students’ rationales for choosing this MBA programme. This study employed reflexive thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2022) to analyse interview data. On this basis, this paper sheds light on the research context of an MBA programme in China (the nature of the subject programme) and participants’ context (background) to examine the nuanced decision-making of international students.

Alongside the national “Study in China” initiative, international students in China have been increasing sharply, making China a unique context for understanding the shift in international student mobility from Global North (“onbeat” destinations) to Global South (“offbeat” destinations). However, most of these studies tend to oversimplify the complexity of international students’ considerations about studying abroad by generalising the various disciplines and universities they attend. This paper extends existing scholarship by focusing on a specific MBA programme at an elite university in China, considering the personal contexts of international students, and then examining their rationales for studying in China through a layered account of macro-, meso-, and micro-level influences. This paper demonstrates the hallmark of international MBA students: they were experienced in their own professional fields, clear about what they wanted to learn in China, and proactively and intentionally visited China before their university applications. These prior linkages shaped what they noticed, valued, and pursued in considering an MBA in China. Read through Archer’s (2007) account of reflexivity, participants’ narratives suggest an interplay between subjective concerns (career aims, desired learning, preferred trajectories) and objective circumstances (sectoral shifts, China’s expanding market relevance, and the opportunities implied by location and institutional status). Rather than treating China as a second-best alternative (Tian & Lu, 2018), participants framed the MBA as a means to advance China-linked career and network projects - building competence that could be mobilised either within China or through China-oriented work elsewhere.

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