While Donald Trump's arrival in the White House is unlikely to affect Chinese wanting to study in the US, his administration's plan to tighten immigration could mean more of them will need to return right after graduation, education consultants have said.

The United States has long been the No 1 destination for students from China, which in turn has been the US' top source of foreign students for the past seven years, according to the Institute for International Education's Open Doors Report 2016.

The report, released in November, said 328,547 Chinese were studying in the US last year, up by 8 percent year-on-year, accounting for one-third of the country's international students.