Despite plummeting relations between Beijing and Washington, Shanghai resident Huang is determined that her daughter will complete her costly education in the United States.

Even as the two sides have spent much of this year locked in a blistering trade row, US schools and universities remain hugely popular with parents who are chasing what they see as better opportunities and an international outlook for their children.

They will be among many hoping that an expected meeting between presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping in South Korea on Thursday — their first encounter since the former’s return to the White House — could pave the way to stabilising ties.

“Even though there’s a lot of drama going on right now… this is just temporary,” Huang told AFP. “This is something I firmly believe in.”

Her 17-year-old daughter has been enrolled in high school in the United States for three years and is hoping to study computer science at a university there.

Trump’s mercurial nature and his “America First” policies have spooked some of Huang’s friends, who are considering sending their children to Europe or Australia instead.

But for Huang, the benefits of a US education far outweigh the cons.

“We feel that the United States is a country that can provide our child with more opportunities, and education is definitely more diverse,” said Huang, who did not give her full name due to privacy concerns.

There is a hefty price tag, though, with Huang estimating she currently pays more than $100,000 a year in education and living expenses.

Wealthiest parents ‘not worried’

Young Chinese people have long been crucial to US universities’ balance sheets.

After Indians, they made up the second-largest nationality of international students for the 2023-24 academic year, according to the Institute of International Education.

But Trump has introduced policies aimed both at curbing immigration and weakening universities, which he sees as a power base of the left.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in May that Washington would “aggressively revoke visas for Chinese students”.

However, just a few months later, Trump said the country was going to allow 600,000 Chinese students to “come in”.

The uncertainty doesn’t seem to have put off many Chinese parents, according to Godot Han, who works for a Beijing tutoring agency.

Her wealthiest clients, especially, “have not been worried”.

They “won’t just read a single news article and then suddenly make changes” to long-held plans, she said.

Teachers at her school, part of a thriving domestic industry, prepare some 200 Chinese students yearly for the tests needed for US university admission.

A one-on-one session ranges from $112 to $210 an hour, with some students attending several a day.

Some parents worry for their children’s safety because of school shootings in the United States and the policies of the Trump administration.

But many have just always “had that kind of American dream”, Han told AFP.

Never a ‘honeymoon period’

The enduring appeal of a US education rests on its “perceived quality and historical reputation”, said Dylan Loh from Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University.

“This reputation and prestige are longstanding and despite the obvious difficulties, still remain and will remain for a long time,” he said.

Another parent, Ping Jiaqi, told AFP that US universities could help foster “independent thinking” in his 17-year-old daughter, who is studying at an international high school in China’s eastern Zhejiang province.

She attended summer school at Brown University last year and visited several other campuses in the United States, hoping to move there for university. Her father expects her entire tertiary education will cost more than $400,000.

Ping, who runs an education consultancy for Chinese students hoping to study abroad, said daily life for his US-based friends and students “hasn’t been affected much” by Trump.

“When I think about it, US-China relations haven’t really been good at any point over the past decade,” he said.

“There was never really a honeymoon period.“