(Information as at 10 December 2020)
On 29 September 2020, nine Chinese government bodies including the Ministry of Education (MoE), and Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security (MoHRSS) [1]released the “Vocational Education Quality Improvement Action Plan (2020-2023)" [2] (unofficial translation of 职业教育提质培优行动计划(2020—2023年)).
This Action Plan contains broad goals for China's vocational education sector for the next three years as part of the Implementation plan on National Vocational Education Reform (Vocational Education Reform Plan), announced in February 2019. It also includes a list of 56 key tasks - a full, unofficial translation of which is provided below.
While the majority of goals and tasks outlined in the Action Plan have been introduced and reiterated in previous high-level documents, the Plan is nonetheless an important reminder for education providers operating in China or in partnership with Chinese institutions. It also identifies the Chinese bodies responsible for each task, which may be useful in targeting engagement efforts.
The 56 key tasks are aligned to five overarching goals for vocational education in China over the next 2-3 years, contained in section 1.2 of the Plan as follows:
- Establish a formal system for vocational education development in China and operationalise the national “credit bank".
- Establish a chain of responsibility for vocational education involving government, industry and institutions.
- Expand the scale of vocational education equivalent to “regular education" [3] and produce many high-quality “technical talents".
- Gradually enhance the vocational education standards system at national, provincial and institutional level and deepen reform of teaching and learning resources and methods.
- Lift the overall quality of vocational education and its graduates; improve graduate employability; lift the appeal of vocational education to support local economic and social development and major national strategies.
Goals 1, 2 and 4 relate to system governance and quality. China aims to develop a system which is underpinned by robust provider and qualifications standards, and strong industry integration to ensure better alignment between skills needs and training offerings – clearly areas where Australia and China may have fruitful engagement.
Goals 3 and 5 relate to increasing access to VET. Underpinning that is the aim of raising the status of VET as both a legitimate and important educational pathway, as opposed to a contingency plan.
The Action Plan seeks to encourage international cooperation within China (for example, encouraging “quality foreign vocational education institutions to set up Chinese-Foreign Cooperation in Running Schools, and promot[ing] ... localised international experience for more innovation". However, greater emphasis is placed in the Plan on China's own international (or “going out") strategy such as through establishing “Luban Workshops" [4] and organising groups of vocational college teachers to study/receive training abroad. Chinese vocational colleges are encouraged to conduct joint academic research, discuss and formulate standards on vocational education and set up staff/student exchange programs with high quality foreign vocational education institutions, with the main goal of lifting the international influence of Chinese vocational education.
The Action Plan highlights the establishment of a national qualifications framework and the national vocational education “credit bank" (the latter which was committed to in the VET Implementation Reform Plan in February 2019) to enable better recognition of vocational education and training qualifications. Both 'in-school students' [5] and learners from the broader community [6] are encouraged to set up personal vocational education credit accounts in the credit bank to keep track of their achievements. Institutions will develop methods to recognise prior learning/experiences and accept applications to transfer prior learning into course credit. The national “open university" system will be given support for development of a lifelong learning system for the public. Vocational colleges are encouraged to offer more training. Top vocational colleges are encouraged to provide training to twice as many people every year as they currently do (i.e. offer more non-award/short course training).
In addition, the Action Plan states that the 1+X mechanism (similar to a micro-credential), also introduced in the VET Implementation Reform Plan in 2019, will be trialled at more vocational colleges with additional practical training sites set up at partnering enterprises. The Central Institute for Vocational and Technical Education (CIVTE) has recently announced the fourth batch of “X" (professional certificates) to be piloted under the 1+X mechanism, taking the total number of certificates being piloted to 469.
The Double High-Level (Shuanggao) initiative [7] announced in April 2019 will also continue to be supported. In December 2019, the full list [8] of colleges and disciplines to be developed under the initiative was released. The list included 197 higher vocational colleges, including 56 in the college development scheme and 141 in the discipline development scheme.
Another key directive from the Action Plan is to ensure more pathways for students to enter higher vocational education. Besides the current pathway via the Gaokao, local admissions through 'classified examinations' [9] will be maintained and strengthened to become the main form of admissions into higher vocational education. Higher vocational colleges are also encouraged to jointly conduct admissions with partnering enterprises. Pathways from secondary vocational education (including technical schools) to higher vocational education will be streamlined. Veterans, workers who have been laid-off and migrant workers are encouraged to apply to higher vocational colleges and can be exempt from taking the academic entry tests. Jiangxi province, [10] for example, announced in October 2020 that it will admit 4,000 farmers into higher vocational colleges this year, bearing all costs of their studies and forgoing the usual entrance exams.
The Action Plan also seeks the steady development of high level vocational education, including the continued trialling of vocational education at bachelor degree level, and where applicable, encouraging capable universities to switch their focus from being “academic-oriented" to “application-oriented". The Action Plan encourages expanded quotas for professional masters and doctoral degrees [11], and local authorities are empowered to determine occupations/skills in demand and organise integration between industry and education to train professional postgraduate students. In June 2019, for the first time in history, 15 higher vocational colleges were approved by the MoE to upgrade [12] their title from “higher vocational college" to “vocational university", enabling them to offer vocational education at bachelor degree level from 2019. To date, 22 institutions have been approved for this upgrade.
Another priority for vocational education, which has been emphasised several times in high-level documents including the Action Plan, is the push for supply-side structural reform of vocational education through integration between industry and education. According to the Action Plan, this is particularly for disciplines in manufacturing, service industries and agriculture. Vocational institutions are encouraged to cooperate with enterprises (State-owned enterprises as well as large private enterprises), which are encouraged to host or join in the delivery of vocational education. What form this will take remains to be seen.
The Action Plan also proposes the full roll-out of the “Modern apprenticeship" and “Enterprise new apprenticeship" programs. “Modern apprenticeships", initiated in 2014 by the MoE, are offered to in-school students and provided through cooperation between the institution and partnering enterprise. “Enterprise new apprenticeships" (or “New apprenticeships") on the other hand, were initiated in 2015 by MoHRSS to allow workers to sign contracts with the enterprise to receive targeted training, where enterprises are responsible for offering both academic and skills training to the apprentice. Both apprenticeship programs have been piloted over the past few years and are now expected to be nationally implemented over the term of the Action Plan.
The Action Plan seeks to further integrate information technology into vocational education. Governments and institutions are encouraged to work together to develop high quality online vocational education courses in foundational subjects for the public as well as skills subjects that are likely to cover large audiences. Online courses are encouraged but only with respect to continuing education and out-of-school groups such as: employed personnel, military personnel, veterans, urban migrant workers, senior citizens and people with disability. Aged care, special education, pre-school education, nursing, culture and art will be priority subjects for continuing education.
To trial the implementation of the tasks outlined in the Vocational Education Reform Plan, around 5 pilot provinces and 10 pilot cities will be established. To date, three provinces: Shandong [13], Gansu [14] and Jiangxi [15] and several cities including Suzhou, Wuxi and Changzhou [16] have been identified by the MoE as pilots. These regions will be given extra policy support in key projects.
In 2020, we have seen some positive signs for vocational education cooperation particularly with respect to opportunities for foreign providers in China's Free Trade Zones. The first independent foreign-owned higher education institution in China was announced in September 2020 in Hainan by a German entity [17], and will offer practical courses and training in areas such as economic engineering, intelligent logistics, mechatronic integration and applied automation.
China is investing heavily in vocational education. According to the MoF [18], the Central Government has allocated 25.71 billion RMB (5.14 billion AUD) in 2020 to boost vocational education. Many provincial governments have also announced detailed measures including financial support for the sector.
We believe the Action Plan, including the detailed 56 key tasks below will be of interest to Australian stakeholders engaged in China's VET sector.
Key tasks
The below table is a direct translation of the table included in the Vocational Education Quality Improvement Action Plan (2020-2023). This literal translation by the Education and Research Section of the Australian Embassy in China is not official phrasing and is provided "as is." Sentences in italics are explanatory notes included by the Education and Research Section where necessary.
| Code | Task | Department in charge of the task |
Implement the fundamental task of establishing moral integrity and cultivating the people |
| 1 | Strengthen research on vocational education, establish an ideology, discourse, policy and practice system for vocational education with Chinese characteristics | MoE and relevant local departments
|
| 2 | Allocate full-time teachers to teach ideology and political thought with a minimum teacher to student ratio of 1:350 | MoE and relevant local departments
|
| 3 | Develop 200 schools that represent the “Three Comprehensive-aspect Education" ideology; cultivate and select 100 studios of head of class and 100 cases of moral education with special characteristics. “Three Comprehensive-aspect Education" is an education reform goal proposed by the Central Committee of the Communist Part of China and the State Council in 2017. It refers to “All members' comprehensive participation in the whole process of education".
“Head of class" is a teacher that is in charge of the class, aka “class master" or “homeroom teacher". The “studios of head of class" is a group made up of head of classes to share best practice. | MoE, MoHRSS and relevant local authorities
|
| 4 | Provide training to 10,000 key moral education management personnel, moral and political education teachers; select 100 demonstration research and training bases for moral and political education teachers; cultivate and select 1,000 demonstration innovative teams for moral and political education, 10,000 demonstration classes for moral and political education, and 10,000 moral and political education case studies with special characteristics. Setting up or selecting “demonstration sites/groups/case studies" is understood to be a common practice adopted by the Chinese Government to showcase best practice in the process of reform and planning. | MoE, MoHRSS and relevant local authorities |
Promote the coordinated development of vocational education |
| 5 | Support poverty stricken areas to establish and run at least one secondary vocational college that meets the needs of the local economic and social development in every prefecture and city level region. | MoE, relevant authorities of the relevant province |
| 6 | Ensure teaching conditions of all secondary vocational colleges meet basic standards. Teaching conditions in this case involves both hardware and software, such as quality of campus, qualification of teachers, teacher to student ratio, curriculum standards, etc | MoE, MoHRSS and relevant local authorities |
| 7 | Select 1,000 demonstration quality secondary vocational colleges and 3,000 demonstration quality disciplines | MoE and relevant local authorities |
| 8 | Select 300 demonstration quality technical schools and 300 demonstration quality disciplines | MoHRSS and relevant local authorities |
| 9 | Push forward on the plan to construct high-level higher vocational education institutions and disciplines with Chinese characteristics. The plan to construct high-level higher vocational education institutions and disciplines with Chinese characteristics is a major higher vocational development plan announced in January 2019, often referred to as “The Double High-Level initiative" (Shuanggao). | MoE, MoF, and relevant local authorities |
| 10 | Explore the accreditation of higher vocational majors As we understand it, China seeks to establish a system for the accreditation of higher vocational majors, as well as opening pathways for international qualification recognition in the future. | MoE and relevant local authorities |
| 11 | Select 300 demonstration provincial level top higher vocational education institutions and 600 demonstration top discipline groups | MoE and relevant local authorities |
| 12 | Push forward on the pilot of vocational education at bachelor degree level Bachelor degree vocational education is offered by “Vocational Universities", which have been upgraded from higher vocational colleges. To date, 22 such colleges have been approved by the MoE to upgrade to vocational universities as part of the pilot. The idea was first proposed in 2014 and officially announced in the Vocational Education Reform Plan in 2019. | MoE and relevant local authorities |
| 13 | Encourage competent higher education institutions at bachelor degree level to transform into application-oriented institutions. The idea to transform some regular higher education institutions into “universities of applied sciences" was raised in 2015 by the Chinese Government to deepen institution-enterprise integration and produce high-level skills workers. It is up to universities to decide whether to become academic focused or application-oriented based on its specialty and capability. | MoE and relevant local authorities |
Perfect the system of life-long learning for all |
| 14 | Accelerate the development of a national “Credit Bank" for vocational education; improve the system for the recognition, accumulation and conversion of learning achievements, and formulate rules for credit hours and credit records. The Vocational Education Reform Plan sought the establishment of a national “Credit Bank" for vocational education from 2019 for individuals to record vocational education credits to enable the transfer and conversion of those credits towards other certification. | MoE and relevant local authorities |
| 15 | Support vocational education institutions to offer more training. Instruct high quality vocational colleges to provide non-award training to the community with a threshold amount of twice its in-school capacity. | MoHRSS, MoE and relevant local authorities |
| 16 | Push forward on the 1+X certificate mechanism pilot The “1+X" mechanism, proposed in the Vocational Education Reform Plan, allows vocational institutions and universities to offer an educational qualification plus a number of skills certificates. The model has been tested at select institutions since March 2019. | MoE, MoHRSS, authorities from relevant industries and relevant local authorities |
| 17 | Guide vocational institutions and leading enterprises to jointly setup 500 demonstration training bases for skills training. | MoE, MoHRSS and relevant local authorities |
| 18 | Select 200 demonstration bases for continuing education, showcase 2,000 high quality online courses for continuing education, and select 500 demonstration community education sites or universities for senior citizens. | MoE and relevant local authorities |
Deepen integration between industry and vocational education, and cooperation between institution and enterprise |
| 19 | Establish a database of industrial professionals; develop a logic map of integration between industry and vocational education. | MIIT, MoE, authorities from relevant industries and relevant local authorities |
| 20 | Select and support a group of demonstration industry-education integrated cities, support 10,000 + industry-education integrated enterprises. | NDRC, MoE and relevant local authorities |
| 21 | Implement national plan to establish vocational and adult education demonstration counties to support rural revitalization professional training | MoE, MoHRSS, MoARA and relevant local authorities |
| 22 | Rely on State-Owned-Enterprises (SOE) and large private enterprises to establish 1,000 demonstration enterprise practice sites for teachers. | MoE and relevant local authorities |
| 23 | Establish 500 non-virtual demonstration vocational education groups (alliances). | MoE, authorities from relevant industries and relevant local authorities |
| 24 | Establish 100 technical education groups (alliances). | MoHRSS and relevant local authorities |
| 25 | Encourage construction of 300 high level demonstration professional industry-education-integrated training bases. | NDRC, MIIT, MoE, MoHRSS, authorities from relevant industries and relevant local authorities |
| 26 | Construct 100 quality institutions to support rural revitalization professional training | MoARA, MoE and relevant local authorities |
| 27 | Establish and improve the mechanism to recognise provincial level industry-education-integrated enterprises, implement incentive policies in combination of “finance + land +credit". | Relevant local authorities |
Improve the vocational education examination admissions system |
| 28 | Establish and improve overall planning of vocational education examination admissions system at provincial level; maintain classified examination admissions as the main channel for enrollment into higher vocational education institutions; promote the assessment method of "cultural quality + vocational skills" and improve diversified examination admission methods. “Classified examination" is the test taken by high school graduates for entry into higher vocational education. There are two types of classified exams, one for those that graduate from regular senior high schools and one for those that graduate from secondary vocational colleges. Classified tests are taken around March every year, therefore students who do not perform well on the test still has a chance at Gaokao (College Entrance Exam). Students who admit to higher vocational colleges through Gaokao and classified exams enjoy the same benefits and rights, including for employment. | MoE, MoHRSS and relevant local authorities |
Implement action plan to lift the management capacity of vocational education |
| 29 | Revise the provider standards for secondary vocational institutions and higher vocational institutions; develop provider standards for vocational institutions at bachelor degree level. The provider standards are issued by the MoE. There are currently standards for secondary vocational colleges and higher vocational colleges, standards for vocational universities is yet to be released. Provider standards includes factors such as in-school capacity, student to teacher ratio, size of campus, number of majors…etc. | MoE |
| 30 | Perfect the qualifications framework based on the special characteristics of vocational education | MoE, The Academic Degrees Committee of the State Council |
| 31 | Implement professional standards for teachers and presidents of vocational institutions, formulate basic requirements for “Double-qualified Teachers" “Double-qualified Teachers" refers to teachers with both academic knowledge and applied skills. In October 2019, the MoE and three other ministries/agencies published an implementation plan on the development of Double-qualified Teachers. The document sets the target of Double-qualified Teachers making up more than 50% of vocational education teachers for coursework by 2022. | MoE, MoHRSS |
| 32 | Revise (formulate) disciplines catalogue and management guidelines for the establishment of disciplines that integrate and cover secondary vocational education, higher vocational education and vocational education at bachelor degree level. | MoE, and authorities from relevant industries |
| 33 | Formulate quality assessment methods for vocational education; promote the establishment for improvement of educational works in vocational education institutions; strengthen the annual quality report publication system at national, provincial and institutional levels; perfect system for vocational education supervision and assessment, and establish a three-tiered (national, provincial and institutional levels) vocational education supervision system. | MoE, and relevant local authorities |
| 34 | Provide training to 5,000 secondary vocational education institution principals/presidents (Party Secretary) and 1,000 higher vocational education institution presidents (Party Secretary); provide all types of training at all levels covering vocational institution leaders. | MoE, MoHRSS and relevant local authorities |
Implement reform action plan for “three education “for vocational education |
| 35 | Inspect and approve staffing of public vocational schools in accordance with special characteristics of vocational education. | Relevant local authorities |
| 36 | Implement new round of “National vocational institution teacher quality improvement plan"; Improve the methods for vocational schools to independently recruit part-time teachers; reform and improve the policy in vocational institutions where salary is linked to performance; "double-qualified" teachers account for more than 50% of professional teachers. | MoE, and relevant local authorities |
| 37 | Institutions and enterprises to work together to build training and practice bases for “Double-qualified Teachers". | MoE, and relevant local authorities |
| 38 | Institutions and enterprises to work together to build integrated training base and practice base for technical colleges. | MoHRSS, and relevant local authorities |
| 39 | Transform qualified higher vocational institutions into “vocational technical normal universities" or set up undergraduate majors in technical education teaching. “Normal university" in China refers to universities with a specialized focus on educating students to become teachers. Can be interpreted as “teachers' college". | MoE, and relevant local authorities |
| 40 | Implement plan to recruit professors for modern industry disciplines from the industry | MoE, and relevant local authorities |
| 41 | Select a group of top teachers for the national “Ten thousand plan for top teachers". The “Ten thousand plan for top teachers" is a subsidiary of the national “Ten thousand Plan". The selection for top teachers is an annual program that selects 100 teachers every year from primary, secondary and higher education. Teachers that are included in the plan will receive financial incentive. | MoE, and relevant local authorities |
| 42 | Showcase 360 national level innovative teaching teams The innovative teaching teams are research groups that looks at innovative educational research topics. The first groups were announced in July 2020 by the MoE. | MoE, and relevant local authorities |
| 43 | Showcase 10,000 vocational education textbooks that have been jointly drafted by institution-enterprise cooperation; Random checks on textbooks will be conducted at both national and provincial levels, with total checks taking up more than 50% of the textbooks. | MoE, and relevant local authorities |
| 44 | Establish a system where vocational education institutions make public their teaching programs. | MoE, and relevant local authorities |
| 45 | Establish and improve the competition for teaching at national, provincial and institution levels. | MoE, and relevant local authorities |
| 46 | Select 1,000 demonstration cases that showcase “classroom reform" in vocational education. | MoE, and relevant local authorities |
Implement vocational education informatisation 2.0 construction action plan |
| 47 | Implement the document - “Specifications for digitalising vocational education institution campuses". Develop a guide for institutions to set up institution-based data centre, and guide the design of informatisation plan for vocational institutions. The document – “Specifications for digitalizing vocational education institution campuses" was released in July 2020 by the MoE. The document specifies ways that vocational colleges can use information technology to support the operation. | MoE, and relevant local authorities |
| 48 | Establish and improve standards of resources to be included in the open platform, as well as the exchange mechanism. Push forward on the establishment and usage of professional teaching resources database jointly established by national, provincial and institutional bodies. | MoE, and relevant local authorities |
| 49 | Select 300 demonstration vocational education institutions for education informatisation, and 100 demonstration virtual simulation training bases. | MoE, and relevant local authorities |
| 50 | Out of the public foundational courses and wide range of professional (skills) courses, showcase 5,000 quality open （online）vocational education courses at different levels. | MoE, and relevant local authorities |
Implement action plan to support projects for international industrial capacity cooperation |
| 51 | Support vocational education institutions to conduct offshore operations, support the establishment of a group of “Luban Workshops". “Luban Workshops" are offshore skills training hub initiated by the Chinese Government. The title “Luban" is named after China's great craftsman and inventor Luban who lived 2,500 years ago. | MoE, and relevant local authorities |
| 52 | Encourage National Open University to set up overseas studies centres; promote cooperation in distance education and training between China and partnering country on projects for international industrial capacity cooperation | MoE, and relevant local authorities |
| 53 | Coordinate the use of existing resources, implement the "Overseas training program for Innovative teaching teams from vocational education institutions", and select a large number of professional leaders and key teachers to study abroad. | MoE, and relevant local authorities |
| 54 | Promote “Chinese + vocational skills" program The “Chinese + vocational skills" program is part of China's “going out" strategy, especially targeting Belt & Road countries. The program builds on the existing offshore skill delivery and adds Chinese language learning into it. The format includes but may not limit to setting up Confucius Institutes with a special focus on vocational education. | MoE, and relevant local authorities |
Implement construction plan to develop vocational education innovation high-land |
| 55 | Arrange 5 provincial level pilot projects for the national vocational education reform in China's Eastern, Middle and Western region; set up 10 city level pilot projects for the national vocational education reform. | MoE, relevant provincial level People's Government and relevant People's Government of Prefecture-level city |
Create a positive atmosphere for development |
| 56 | Push for the revision and implementation of “Vocational Education Law", as well as its supporting policies and guidelines; formulate and implement local regulations for vocational education | MoE, and relevant local authorities
|
For further enquiries, please contact the Education and Research Section of the Australian Embassy in Beijing.
[1] Full list of responsible bodies: Ministry of Education (MoE) , National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) , Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), Ministry of Finance (MoF), Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security (MoHRSS), Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (MoARA), State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) , State Taxation Administration (STA) and Poverty Alleviation Office of the State Council
[2] People's Republic of China, Ministry of Education , 教育部等九部门关于印发《职业教育提质培优 行动计划（2020—2023年）》的通知 (Unofficial Translation: Nine Government Bodies Including the Ministry of Education Publishes the 'Vocational Education Quality Improvement Action Plan (2020-2023)'), September 2020, http://www.moe.gov.cn/srcsite/A07/zcs_zhgg/202009/t20200929_492299.html
[3] “Regular education"（普通教育）refers to full-time academic senior high school education and higher education at bachelor and above degree level.
[4] An offshore skills training hub initiated by Tianjin Municipality in 2016. The title “Luban" is named after China's renowned craftsman and inventor Luban who lived 2,500 years ago. The workshops mainly provides vocational training to Belt & Road countries to support Chinese projects, but it has also expanded to non-technical disciplines such as the Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) Luban Workshop in Switzerland.
[5] Students that are currently enrolled in formal qualifications at an institution.
[6] Individuals that are currently not enrolled with an institution but who may be targeted for non-award/short courses.
[7] Unofficial translation “中国特色高水平高职学校和专业建设", also known commonly as “Shuanggao" (双高). The plan aims to develop China's higher vocational colleges and disciplines, similar to the Double First-Class initiative for higher education. The full list of vocational colleges and disciplines under the plan was released in December 2019.
[8] The People's Republic of China, The Ministry of Education, '教育部 财政部关于公布中国特色高水平高职学校和专业建设计划建设单位名单的通知' (Unofficial translation: 'Announcement on the list of higher vocational institutions and disciplines for high level development (Double High-Level Initiative)'). 13 December 2019， http://www.moe.gov.cn/srcsite/A07/moe_737/s3876_qt/201912/t20191213_411947.html
[9] “Classified examination" is the test taken by high school graduates for entry into higher vocational education. There are two types of classified exams, one for those that graduate from regular senior high schools and one for those that graduate from secondary vocational colleges. Classified tests are taken around March every year, therefore students who do not perform well on the test still have another chance via Gaokao (College Entrance Exam) in June. Students who admit to higher vocational colleges through Gaokao and classified exams enjoy the same benefits and rights, including for employment.
[10] The People's Republic of China, Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of Jiangxi Province, '江西省农业农村厅办公室 江西省教育厅办公室关于做好2020年全省高职扩招培养高素质农民报名登记和身份审核工作的通知' (Unofficial translation: 'Notice of the Office of the Jiangxi Provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs and the Office of the Jiangxi Provincial Department of Education on Registration and Identity Verification of the Province's Higher Vocational Enrollment and Training High-Quality Farmers in 2020'). October 2020, http://nync.jiangxi.gov.cn/art/2020/10/16/art_27783_2865333.html
[11] Professional masters and doctoral degrees are different to academic masters and PhD. Professional degrees are more skills based and are career focused.
[12] Chen, L. and Chen, K, (2019). '全国首批“职业大学"什么样？'(unofficial translation: 'What does the country's first group of 'vocational universities' look like?') Xinhuanet, 8 June 2019. Available at: http://www.xinhuanet.com/politics/2019-06/08/c_1124597456.htm
[13] ZHENG, W. (2020) '部省共建国家职业教育创新发展高地"在山东启动' （unofficial translation: 'Ministry of Education and provincial government jointly supported national vocational education innovation development high-ground launched in Shandong'）, Xinhuanet, 14 January 2020,. Available at: http://m.xinhuanet.com/2020-01/14/c_1125462405.htm
[14] The People's Republic of China, People's Government of Gansu Province, '我省成为部省共建国家职业教育创新发展高地' (unofficial translation: 'Gansu becomes the a national vocational education innovation development high-ground jointly supported by the ministry and provincial government' ). 13 December 2019, http://www.gansu.gov.cn/art/2020/8/6/art_36_458042.html
[15] The People's Republic of China, The Ministry of Education, '教育部江西省共建职业教育创新发展高地'(unofficial translation: 'Ministry of Education and Jiangxi Provincial Government jointly develop vocational education innovation development high-ground'). 13 December 2019 http://www.moe.gov.cn/jyb_zzjg/huodong/202008/t20200827_480464.html
[16] WANG, Y. (2020) '教育部、江苏省携手打造苏锡常都市圈职业教育发展样板'（unofficial translation: 'The Ministry of Education and Jiangsu Province join hands to create a model for the development of vocational education in the Suzhou, Wuxi and Changzhou metropolitan area'）, Xinhuanet, 28 September 2020, Available at: http://www.js.xinhuanet.com/2020-09/28/c_1126553085.htm
[17] LI, Q. (2020) 'First independent overseas university in China to be set up in Hainan', Global Times, 10 September 2020, Available at: https://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1200439.shtml
[18] HUA, X (2020) 'China spends more to boost vocational education', Xinhuanet, 26 July 2020, Available at: http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2020-07/26/c_139241319.htm