Internationalization-at-home (IaH), the purposeful integration of international and intercultural experiences for all students within domestic learning environments (Beelen & Jones, 2015), is an approach to cultivating global competence (Cen & Yang, 2022; Flammia et al., 2019; Jon, 2013). In Chinese higher education, students' IaH participation has been much higher than their participation in cross-border activities, while those with overseas experiences have tended to be more active and engaged in IaH (Xu et al., 2019). During the COVID-19 pandemic, academic mobility was impeded by border closures, travel restrictions, and campus lockdowns. The zero-tolerance approach was administered in mainland China for three years following the onset of the pandemic in 2020. Chinese students who had considered pursuing graduate degrees abroad turned to graduate education at home. Meanwhile, international cooperative programs and overseas academic opportunities were minimized. Did the global competence of graduate students decrease over these three years? Did student participation in IaH activities increase as an alternative? The present study sought to assess the changes in international engagement and global competence among graduate students in China.