Washington DC - Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Wednesday he will "aggressively" revoke visas to students from China, long a top source of revenue for US universities, striking defiance after Beijing complained about a suspension in visa processing.

President Donald Trump's administration will "aggressively revoke visas for Chinese students, including those with connections to the Chinese Communist Party or studying in critical fields," Rubio said in a statement.

"We will also revise visa criteria to enhance scrutiny of all future visa applications from the People's Republic of China and Hong Kong," he said.

The announcement marked a show of defiance after China criticized Rubio's decision a day earlier to suspend visa appointments for students worldwide at least temporarily.

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The Trump administration has already sought to end permission for all international students at Harvard University, which has rebuffed pressure from the president related to student protests.

Young Chinese people have long been crucial to US universities, which rely on international students paying full tuition.

China sent 277,398 students in the 2023-24 academic year, although India, for the first time in years, surpassed it, according to a State Department-backed report of the Institute of International Education.

Trump, in his previous term, also took aim at Chinese students but focused attention on those in sensitive fields or with explicit links to the military.

It was unclear to what extent Rubio's statement marked an escalation.