China to persist in the “opening-up” of education

• Continue the opening-up of education, and look to deepen international educational collaboration and exchange in all aspects and at all levels. Credit recognition with foreign counterparts and cross issuance/joint issuance of qualifications will be encouraged. The government will also consider delegating certain approval processes for international collaboration to institutions (for example, foreign affairs approval to universities in the Double First-Class University development scheme). At the press conference, a representative of the MoE’s Department of International Cooperation and Exchanges (DICE) drew further attention to China’s long touted priority regions for education - Hainan, Hebei Xiong’An New Area, Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area and the Yangtze River Delta Region - and that education development in these regions would continue to be supported.
• Eliminate barriers to enable reform in Chinese-foreign cooperation in running schools.  This will include: amending the relevant guidelines and “Regulations on Chinese-Foreign Cooperation in Running Schools”[3] (the legislation that governs the establishment of joint institutes and programs between Chinese and foreign education provider partners); developing streamlined approval and termination processes for these projects; and encouraging some new education projects to be ‘piloted’, given policy support and greater flexibility around the mode of delivery and operational structure.  This should be welcome news for foreign partners who have encountered difficulties in navigating China’s regulatory landscape with respect to establishing and maintaining education partnerships.Continue to improve Chinese higher education institutions’ (HEIs) operating offshore. According to the MoE, China has set up 100+ different types of offshore educational project in around 50 countries. China will push for more applied universities and vocational colleges to join Chinese state-owned enterprises in setting up offshore projects. 
• Further open up and reform its VET system to achieve a world class VET system with Chinese characteristics. China will look to introduce ‘favourable policies‘ that foreign vocational institutions have adopted, although it is not clear what these will be.  Chinese vocational institutions are encouraged to conduct international capacity building with foreign VET institutions. New international vocational competitions will be established, and VET teachers will be given more opportunities to travel abroad for training. 
• Strengthen the branding of ‘Study in China’, including by lifting the quality and management of inbound study. This follows the recent release of policies around the quality of inbound study including “Higher Education Quality Specification for Inbound Study Abroad (trial)”[4], “Regulation on the Management of Chinese Government Scholarships” [5]and quality standard for international students studying English medical degrees in China[6].   It is understood the MoE is currently finalising further quality documents relevant to inbound study.  Teacher training for teachers of international students will continue to be strengthened.
• Expand influence in online education internationally and support institutions at all levels to develop online courses and promote them overseas using the ‘China Education Cloud’ platforms[7]. 
• Launch an upgraded ‘Belt and Road education action plan’ and support multilateral education cooperation. China says it is willing to share its experience on educational arrangements during the pandemic period with the international community, and provide support especially to developing countries. China proposes to deepen its collaboration with multilateral institutions such as the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). 
• Continue support for study abroad.  When asked about the COVID-19 pandemic’s effect on outbound study abroad, the DICE representative explained that the impact of the pandemic on outbound study abroad will be ‘temporary’ and that the Opinions document makes clear China will continue to see study abroad as a means to educate professionals in all sectors relevant to China’s modernisation efforts. China proposes to actively explore collaboration opportunities and expand the scope of outbound study abroad. 

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