The UK is home to some of the world’s leading and most widely respected educational institutions, and this soft power advantage has led the country to become a top study destination for students from all over the world.

With as many as 144,000 Chinese students currently pursuing higher education in the UK (32% of the total number of international students), they have become one of the country’s largest international student cohorts, making significant contributions to the higher education sector and regional economies. Speaking to Times Higher Education, Chris Skidmore MP, who is leading an International Education Commission to draw up goals and strategies for the sector, said that international students are “vital to the social and economic success of the UK and ensuring we remain an outwardly focused and engaging nation that remains relevant to the modern international world”.

The importance of Chinese students to the UK’s education sector is unlikely to change any time soon, but a number of new challenges – from the rising quality of Chinese universities to the tense geopolitical environment – mean that educational institutions need to consider how to make sure that their strategies are sustainable.

The current outlook for UK-China education partnerships

Thomas Clayburn, CBBC’s Education Sector Lead, defines sustainable UK-China education strategies as long-term partnerships that produce mutually beneficial outcomes. The goal of these partnerships should be to benefit students whether they are studying in the UK or China (notably in terms of employability), to produce research that is globally beneficial and to strengthen the overall environment of UK-China collaboration.

In recent years, UK universities have been looking for ways to diversify their transnational education (TNE) efforts in China. In the past, many universities pursued ‘2+2’ or ‘2+1’ style partnerships with Chinese universities, where the students study for a couple of years in China before moving to the UK to complete their degree. Today, many universities have moved to fully in-country programmes, a model that has been further entrenched by the Covid-19 pandemic. Nevertheless, the numbers show that the switch to this model has not reduced the number of Chinese students coming to the UK, and Clayburn points out that students who have studied in a TNE programme in-country still have a greater awareness of the UK education market and may be more likely to come to the UK to pursue a postgraduate degree. 

The challenges facing UK-China education partnerships

Although the conditions for UK-China education partnerships are positive, there are some challenges that UK institutions should bear in mind.

In recent years, Chinese universities have been closing the gap with UK universities in terms of quality. In the latest Times Higher Education World University Ranking, released on 12 October 2022, China now has an unprecedented seven universities in the top 100, up from only two just six years ago. This could tempt more Chinese students to study in-country, especially with the prestige offered by a degree from the country’s top universities, such as Tsinghua (now ranked 16^th in the THE ranking, the highest in Asia).

The challenges facing the transnational education sector in China, while real and potentially affecting the viability of the China market for some UK institutions, are far from insurmountable.

Moreover, Chinese students are becoming increasingly savvy and selective in their study abroad plans. It is no longer enough to have studied for any degree in the UK; students are looking for programmes with clear utility that translate into a career advantage. An increasing number of mature students are looking to international postgraduate education to upskill in fields in which they have several years of employment experience. Universities will need to bear this in mind when marketing existing programmes or designing new ones.

Finally, it is no surprise that the political sensitivity of the conversation around China in recent years has filtered into the education field. There has been increased scrutiny on UK-China research collaborations, especially in fields covered by the National Security and Investment (NSI) Act, such as AI, communications and satellite and space technologies. Over the past few years, five research collaborations – including centres at Imperial College and the University of Manchester – have closed due to their links with Chinese aerospace or defence companies.

However, Clayburn notes that a move away from STEM programmes towards the creative arts could be beneficial for many UK universities and that Chinese students will be drawn in by the strength of the UK’s creative industries in fields like fashion and design.

The challenges mentioned above may drive the diversification of the UK education sector’s relationship with China, which will ultimately be beneficial. This is especially true for institutions that sit further down the league tables or don’t have a famous name to fall back on. Many post-1992 universities – not traditionally the focus of Chinese student applications – have found success with TNE initiatives in China, and the appetite for TNE in China is likely to continue.

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Approximately 500,000 students are enrolled in TNE in China. For the UK – not only a global leader in the provision of education but also a country with deep ties to China in the education sector – there are clear opportunities to take advantage of, particularly in the field of establishing joint educational programmes and initiatives. Nevertheless, there remain a number of opportunities and challenges that UK education institutions would be wise to pay attention to as they look to land or expand in the China market.

Opportunities

A number of factors suggest conditions are right for TNE expansion in China.

Firstly, at the most fundamental level, the demand for TNE is strong in China, strengthened by various local governments at both the provincial and municipal levels as part of their investment and development plans. The presence of international education – be it a university or international resources and talents – can significantly increase the status of lower-tier cities (i.e., those cities that are not among the largest, richest, or most international in China). As such, local governments are often willing to invest in international education collaboration to boost their attractiveness in the face of competition from other localities.

Within China, a quota system is used for universities’ enrolment of Chinese undergraduate students. TNE can operate outside of this system, however, and recent regulatory changes in this field further indicate the favourable treatment being given to joint educational programmes (JEPs) and joint educational institutions (JEIs). Specifically, the Ministry of Education is allowing them to accept a higher number of students, as long as the students are those who planned to study abroad but were not able to due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

It is true that China’s higher education sector can be a challenging environment for international entrants, yet entering China offers significant long-term business opportunities for those with the right combination of entry model, partner and location. An effective strategy underpins all of these and can help to set a university apart from competitors both foreign and domestic.

Challenges

Although conditions for engaging in JEPs and JEIs in China are positive, for international entrants, TNE expansion does not come without its challenges, as detailed below.

Misunderstanding the legislation
The Chinese regulatory environment is often difficult for international companies to navigate. National laws and regulations can be vague and even contradictory, leaving interpretation up to provincial-level education departments. Staying in regular communication with the relevant local departments to build up trust and gain their support is therefore critical.

Cultural clashes and ideological barriers
Mutual understanding of the meaning of academic freedom may also be a point of contention when working with Chinese partners. The Chinese government still maintains significant control over curricula and prohibits teaching in areas such as civil rights, civil society, and press freedom. Universities in the UK may have to be willing to compromise their current approach.

Employment risks and faculty turnover
In practice, it is often difficult to retain faculty members for several years, impacting running costs and affecting the JEP or JEI’s reputation. The cost and impact of staffing needs to be accurately calculated and a well-designed strategy needs to be put in place to sustain staff quality and stability.

Intellectual property protection
In recent years, both the UK and China have published laws and regulations covering intellectual property protection, data protection and national security in relation to investment. When collaborating on international projects, either party may not understand the other’s policies, hence both partners should outline areas of research and intellectual property creation, identify expected outputs, and understand any potential consequences that may arise before entering into an agreement.

Recommendations

Taking into account the opportunities and points of consideration for TNE expansion in China, below are a selection of suggestions for moving forward.

Any entry strategy should have clear end goals: Before collaborating, a frank, clear discussion of any key issues that stand in the way of setting goals should be carried out. Similarly, a robust due diligence process should be implemented to track progress towards these goals, including quality assurance and quantitative KPIs.

Agree on a governance framework: For a JEP or JEI to be a success, shared objectives and common ground should be established early on, including the management of and division of responsibility for the institution, student recruitment, and marketing, among other key topics.

Treat new collaborative programmes like a start-up: New collaborative programmes should not depend on the existing reputations of the partner universities but should instead be treated like a start-up. This way, appropriate tools and frameworks can be adopted from the start.

Evaluate the project’s appeal: This appeal could be based on the strength of the UK university’s brand, which is partly a function of its present and previous marketing campaigns in China, or on the extent to which an institution has researched and engaged with the broader China market.

The information in this article is extracted from “Transnational Education in China Today,” the first in a series of reports available exclusively for subscribers of CBBC’s Comprehensive Higher Education Strategy Service (CHESS).

Click here to read more about the benefits of CHESS and how to sign up

The post Opportunities and challenges in transnational education in China appeared first on Focus - China Britain Business Council.

The UK is home to some of the world’s leading and most widely respected educational institutions, and this soft power advantage has led the country to become a top study destination for students from all over the world.

With as many as 144,000 Chinese students currently pursuing higher education in the UK, they have become one of the country’s largest international student cohorts, making significant contributions to the UK’s higher education sector and regional economies.

The importance of Chinese students is unlikely to change in the near future, and UK universities must align their recruitment strategies accordingly. One way to do so is by further developing a presence in China’s transnational education (TNE) sector.

What is transnational education?

Transnational education (TNE) is education provided either in person or online through an institution located in a different country. More broadly, TNE can come not just in the form of courses taken at overseas institutions, but also in that of international credit transfers, degree validation, joint or dual degree programmes and distance learning.

TNE in China works in the same way, albeit with a number of characteristics specific to China due to differences in the market, laws and regulations, and history. Indeed, China has a large and rapidly growing TNE sector, and foreign higher education institutions (HEIs) are well aware that setting up a presence in the China market significantly increases the ease with which they can attract Chinese students to their main campuses outside of China.

TNE is a long-established industry with about 20 years of history in China. The Double First-Class initiative (an initiative selecting universities to be developed into first-class educational institutions, and prominent programmes to be elevated in quality to become classed as ‘first rate’) has had one of the largest impacts on the sector and helps explain the shift among joint educational programmes (JEPs) and joint educational institutions (JEIs) to using a fully in-country model rather than having students spend a portion of their studies abroad. Government focus on innovation has also led to the prioritisation of STEM subjects, which has consequently influenced TNE to move in the same direction.

Covid-19 has only further entrenched the fully in-country model, with the travel restrictions in place having had a significant impact on TNE in China. And it is not just students that are affected: Covid-19 restrictions have made it difficult for academic and administrative staff alike to move to and from China.

The scale of transnational education in China

According to the Chinese Ministry of Education, 2,332 joint educational programmes and joint educational institutions were approved by 2020, of which 1,230 were for undergraduate degrees or higher. These JEIs and JEPs were established by a mixture of British, US, Russian and Israeli universities and higher education institutions. In the same year, there were more than 300,000 students enrolled with JEPs and JEIs at the undergraduate level and above. The regions with the highest number of JEPs and JEIs are Beijing, Shanghai and Jiangsu, with Beijing alone home to 59 JEPs (as of 2022).

Number of JEPs (in red) and JEIs (in grey) in operation by origin of foreign partner

UK involvement in transnational education in China

The UK’s involvement in China’s TNE landscape is considerable: over a fifth of all China-foreign joint programmes and institutions at the undergraduate level and above are operating in partnership with UK institutions. Specifically, there are now 237 British TNE partnerships in operation in China, ranging from sponsored institutes within Chinese universities to degree-granting programmes.

Over a fifth of all China-foreign joint programmes and institutions at the undergraduate level and above are operating in partnership with UK institutions

There are currently 22 China-UK JEIs with non-independent legal status in partnership with Double First Class universities, including the Leicester International Institute at Dalian University of Technology and Lancaster University College at Beijing Jiaotong University. Most offer only undergraduate education, but a few – like Zhejiang University-University of Edinburgh Institute and the Faculty of International Media at the Communication University of China (run with Nottingham Trent) – offer education all the way to PhD level.

The future of transnational education in China for UK universities

Approximately half a million students are enrolled in TNE in China. For the UK – not only a global leader in the provision of education but also a country with deep ties to China in the education sector – there are clear opportunities to take advantage of, particularly in the field of establishing JEPs and JEIs. 

The popularity of JEPs and JEIs has grown in the last two decades. Following a period of relatively rapid and uncontrolled growth during which JEPs and JEIs proliferated, the Chinese authorities introduced measures to raise standards through a combination of evaluations and permits. At the same time, JEPs and JEIs have been encouraged to focus on certain subjects seen as being more beneficial to China’s wider economy, particularly STEM subjects, and to offer education not just at an undergraduate level but also at a Masters and PhD level. For UK education institutions – many of which are at the forefront of a wide range of technological and scientific academic fields, some of which already have extensive experience of collaboration programmes in China – these are welcome steps. 

In addition, China is moving away from a TNE system in which students spend a proportion of their studies in another country – typically one or two years of a four-year undergraduate course, for example – and towards one that allows students to complete their studies entirely in China. This is partly, albeit not completely, a response to the travel restrictions as a result of the country’s zero Covid policy. For UK education providers, this is where funding is most likely to be available for new or expanded JEPs and JEIs. 

Despite the range of opportunities, there remain a number of trends that UK education institutes would be wise to pay attention to. To begin with, there are geographical variations. Eastern China, long the most prosperous and economically developed part of the country, currently leads the way in terms of the number of JEIs and JEPs, suggesting that provinces such as Jiangsu and Zhejiang, as well as the municipality of Shanghai, should factor into the location considerations of the British side. Other regions of China do hold promise though, such as the south, where the Greater Bay Area is receiving significant governmental support. 

The information in this article is extracted from “Transnational Education in China Today,” the first in a series of reports available exclusively for subscribers of CBBC’s Comprehensive Higher Education Strategy Service (CHESS).

Click here to read more about the benefits of CHESS and how to sign up

The post Transnational education in China appeared first on Focus - China Britain Business Council.

With over 200,000 Chinese students currently enrolled at UK universities, Chinese students remain one of the largest international student cohorts in the country, making a significant contribution to Britain’s higher education sector and regional economies. In 2021, Chinese students contributed £2.1 billion (7% of all revenue) to the UK’s education sector.

There are over 950 transnational education (TNE) programmes available in China, providing half a million students with qualifications from international education centres. More than 60,000 Chinese students are currently pursuing a UK qualification via a TNE programme, enabling them access to Britain’s world-leading higher education services from the Chinese Mainland.

With an increased demand for TNE programmes and a growing student body, it is essential that British universities have a clear understanding of contemporary TNE in China, key market trends, and the geopolitical factors that impact strategy.

CBBC has now launched the first in a series of CHESS reports, ‘Transnational Education in China Today’, enabling universities to devise and optimise their approach to the China market and build up their capacity in the country.

The report highlights trends, explains cooperative frameworks and revenue and tax considerations, and enables higher education centres the opportunity to evaluate their approaches to developing effective TNE partnerships in the China market.

As well as this newly released report and a series of others throughout the year, CHESS will also include workshops and tailored insights for UK higher education institutes.

“The programme’s insights into the key discussion points and policies affecting exchanges and cooperation in education will be relevant whether your institution already has an advanced China footprint with a dedicated team on the ground through CBBC’s Launchpad or your own office; your focus is on partnerships driving marketing, student recruitment, and transnational education (TNE); or you are seeking to expand your China activities,” said Andrew Seaton, Chief Executive of the China-Britain Business Council.

Click here to read more about the benefits of CHESS and how to sign up

For more information about CHESS and the ‘Transnational Education in China Today’ report, contact CBBC’s Education Sector Lead, Thomas Clayburn, on thomas.clayburn@cbbc.org

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