A number of top-tier Chinese universities, in combination with 50 major enterprises, have launched an Innovation and Entrepreneurship Education Alliance. The alliance aims to build a platform for universities and enterprises to share their experience in innovation and entrepreneurship, both from an educational perspective and in terms of encouraging students’ innovation and entrepreneurship. The alliance also aims to strengthen international cooperation in this area.

Universities involved in this alliance include many of China’s top institutions, including Tsinghua University, Peking University, Zhejiang University, Fudan University, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Nanjing University, Harbin Institute of Technology, Xi'an Jiaotong University, the University of Science and Technology of China and Renmin University. Participating enterprises include many large domestic and international technology firms such as Alibaba, Baidu, IBM, Intel, Microsoft, Tencent, Uber and Xiaomi. The alliance as a whole operates under the guidance of the Ministry of Education, and Lin Huiqing, Vice Minister of Education, has stated that the Ministry of Education will actively support the development of the alliance.

The Chinese government is currently heavily promoting entrepreneurship among university students. In June the Ministry of Education announced six key missions of innovation and entrepreneurship education, including improving entrepreneurship training programmes; promoting collaboration between different types of institution, including universities, companies and government bodies; improving resource sharing and conducting entrepreneurship competitions; allowing students to temporarily suspend their studies to pursue business ideas; enhancing relevant teacher training; and promoting a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship at universities.

Analysis by Liu Xiaoxiao, Education Services Manager and Kevin Prest, Senior Analyst:

The development of this alliance is a direct result of the government’s recent focus on entrepreneurship. Nevertheless, the members of this association can be viewed as a reference list of Chinese institutions with a strong interest in entrepreneurship education. This could be helpful for UK institutions interested in identifying potential partnerships for joint courses or other kinds of cooperation in this field. Each member’s activities will be slightly different, as the Ministry of Education encourages universities to have the autonomy to decide on the details of their entrepreneurship programmes.

UK institutions who wish to know more about this association are welcome to contact Liu Xiaoxiao at xiaoxiao.liu@britishcouncil.org.cn for more information.

Sources:

1. http://china.cnr.cn/gdgg/20150612/t20150612_518837439.shtml

2. http://www.moe.edu.cn/jyb_xwfb/gzdt_gzdt/moe_1485/201506/t20150612_190308.html

3. http://www.jyb.cn/high/gdjyxw/201506/t20150603_624608.html