Chinese Education Ministry has issued an alert about visa applications for Chinese students who are scheduled to study in the United States, on June 3, 2019.

The Ministry says Chinese students are now facing problems with visa applications, including visa restrictions, prolonged visa application times, shorter validity periods, as well as a higher possibility of visa denials. The Ministry says this is having an impact on Chinese students who intend to study in the U.S. or complete their academic studies in the country.

The Ministry says Chinese students and scholars need to be aware of the possible problems, while making adequate preparations for the potential risks ahead of their time in the United States.

"According to China Scholarship Council, among the 10,313 Chinese overseas students sponsored by the Chinese government to study in the U.S., 331 have to delay their plans due to visa issues, accounting for 3.2 percent. During the first quarter of 2019, a total of 182 out of the 1,353 students had to change their plans for the same issue, accounting for 13.5 percent," said Xu Yongji, deputy director of the Ministry's Department of International Cooperation and Exchange at a press conference on Monday.

He added that the affected majors include the social and natural sciences, and said some scholars studying China-U.S. relations have had their 10-year visas revoked.

"Such behaviors have harmed the dignities of Chinese students and scholars studying in the U.S., and severely hurt the Chinese people's feelings," Xu said, urging the U.S. to shift their efforts to promote educational cooperation and communications.

According to the Ministry of Education, China makes up the largest number of international students in the U.S.

Between 2017 and 2018, a total of 363,300 registered Chinese students studied in U.S. colleges, increasing 3.6 percent year-on-year, and accounting for 33.2 percent of all the international students.

In 2017, Chinese students brought in about 1.3 billion U.S. dollars to the country.

Xu said China is willing to communicate and cooperate with all countries, including the U.S., but such cooperation should be built on mutual willingness and respect.

"China believes that no matter how the political and economic communications changed, we should be confident and persistent in the exchanges and cooperation in education," he said.

From 1978 to 2018, a total of 5.85 million Chinese students have pursued their studies abroad. In 2018 alone, the number of Chinese overseas student reached 662,100, an 8.83 percent year-on-year increase.