Summary

China’s Ministry of Education and the Academic Degrees Committee of the State Council jointly issued the Plan for Degree and Postgraduate Education Development of the 13th Five-Year Period (2016-2020), aiming to become a hub for postgraduate education in the Asia-Pacific region. The plan sets a goal of 2.9 million postgraduate students (including both full- and part-time students) by 2020. This includes a target of 3 per cent of total enrolled students coming from overseas, which would represent an increase of around 60 per cent in overseas postgraduate students compared to the number in 2015.

The Plan also calls for promoting professional master's degree programmes, and sets a goal that 60 per cent of Master’s degree students should be studying professional programmes such as MBA, Master of Engineering or Master of Education as opposed to purely academic subjects. It calls for better connection between postgraduate education and undergraduate and higher vocational education in applied technology fields, an increased role for industry, enterprises and professional bodies, and effective convergence between some professional Master’s degrees and international professional qualifications.

At the PhD level, the Plan proposes to steadily develop doctoral education, encourages HEIs to cooperate with international high-level universities and research institutions to jointly cultivate doctoral students, to expand the scale of doctoral education.

The Plan stressed the development of world-class postgraduate education as a significant part of the development plan for “world-class universities and world-class disciplines”, in line with five key tasks as improving quality teaching, cultivating top-notch innovative talents, enhancing the level of scientific research, preserving outstanding culture heritage in innovative way, as well as promoting industry-university cooperation and the transformation of scientific research outcomes.

Further promotion of International cooperation is also included in the Plan to be push forwarded in below five aspects,

    •  to promote mutual recognition of bilateral and multilateral credits and degrees

    •  to implement international accreditation and assessment, promoting effective connection between some professional degree programmes and international professional qualification certification

    •  to promote the quality development of Sino-foreign cooperation in running schools (Transnational Education programmes approved by the MoE), in support of high-level joint articulation and TNE programmes for deepening curriculum construction, joint teaching, credit exchange and degree mutual recognition

    •  to promote the scheme of “Study in China”, particularly aimed at attracting students from countries along the “One Belt One Road”

    •  to encourage and support the international exchange of supervisors (course mentors) and postgraduates.

At the recent session of the Academic Degrees Committee of the State Council, Vice Premier Liu Yandong pointed out that at present there are 401 doctoral granting units and 327 master's degree granting units in China, with nearly 2.6 million enrolled students.

Analysis by Kevin Prest and Xiaoxiao Liu:

The plan’s goals for increased international cooperation at the postgraduate level will open more opportunities for UK universities to work with their Chinese counterparts more closely, both on transnational education and student exchange and on joint research projects.

The focus on professional master’s degree programmes may also bring opportunities for UK professional qualification awarding bodies. There could be chances to work together with Chinese higher education institutions in areas such as course development and module accreditation.

At the same time, the increase in postgraduate student places may have a negative effect on UK postgraduate student recruitment, both in China and in developing countries where Chinese universities may be attractive as a cheaper alternative to UK education.

Sources:

1. The Plan for Degree and Postgraduate Education Development of the 13th Five-Year Period (2016-2020), full text in Chinese: http://www.moe.gov.cn/srcsite/A22/s7065/201701/t20170120_295344.html

2. Policy briefing of the Plan: http://www.moe.gov.cn/jyb_xwfb/s271/201701/t20170120_295346.html

3. Vice Premier Liu Yandong’s remarks: http://www.moe.gov.cn/jyb_xwfb/s6052/moe_838/201701/t20170124_295630.html

4. Other news: http://edu.people.com.cn/n1/2017/0122/c1006-29040339.html; http://education.news.cn/2017-01/24/c_1120375977.htm