Not only in yenching university, but also in the late Qing Dynasty and early Republic of China, many missionary schools were established, and finally 14 missionary university was formed, with Jinling University as the highest specification.

They don't want China to fall behind, because China is bound to be strong, and they want China to be strong in their way. While spreading western knowledge, it is more important to spread western social ideas.

To put it more bluntly, capitalism needs an open market, and spreading the ideology of openness and freedom in China can help to form such a market.

Of course, as a direct result, these missionary universities promoted the development of modern university system in China and trained many talents.