Review and Future Prospect of Chinese International Student Education Research:Visual Analysis Based on VOSviewer and CiteSpace

International student education is of great significance in the context of internationalization of higher education. Although we have made remarkable achievements in the education of overseas students, we still face problems in teaching, management and interpersonal communication. This study uses VOSviewer and CiteSpace software to visually analyze 489 CSSCI and Peking University core journal literatures in KNOWnet from 2014 to 2025. According to the results, although institutions of higher learning are the main body of international student education research, there are still some problems such as insufficient institutional cooperation and emphasis on quantity over quality. The research results show that the keywords cluster into 6 groups, and the hot spots are concentrated in the fields of international student education, education development, and international education cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative. The research process is also divided into three stages through analysis: foundation construction and policy-driven period (2015—2017) , regional cooperation and quality exploration period (2018—2020) , cultural identity and global game period (2021—2025) , and the focus direction is constantly changing. The Belt and Road Initiative and the internationalization of education have always been core hotspots. Through the above conclusions, it can provide an effective reference for the education of overseas students in China to move steadily towards a scientific, standardized and sustainable direction. Follow-up research should also focus on current hot spots and existing problems, and actively explore feasible optimization strategies.