Summary

On 8 April 2021, China's Ministry of Education announced a list of 51 new Sino-foreign joint programmes at the bachelor's degree level and above, which were approved in the second half of 2020. This brings the total number of 2020 TNE approvals to 107, including 24 new joint institutes and 83 joint programmes. The list included three UK partnerships, all at the bachelor’s degree level. Among them, 46 are for undergraduate level, four with post graduate master’s degrees and one is a doctoral programme.

The three approved UK partnerships are:

• a programme in telecommunication engineering between the University of Derby and Shenyang University of Technology in Liaoning province
• a programme in radio and television between Teesside University and Nanjing Institute of Communication in Jiangsu province
• a programme in pharmaceutical preparations between Leeds Beckett University and Guizhou University of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Guizhou province

Nine of the 51 approved programmes involved US universities, while the other top partner countries included Russa with six newly approved programmes, Germany and South Korea with five each, and the UK and Ireland with three each.

Looking at subject area, 22 of the newly approved partnerships (43 per cent of the total) - were in the broad field of engineering. Other fields with multiple approved partnerships include eight new programmes in arts and design, four in subjects related to environment studies, and three in medicinal related fields.

Analysis by Kevin Prest, Senior Analyst, International Education Services

This is the first time since 2014 that more than a hundred new TNE partnerships were approved in a single year. The increase in programme approvals shows that the Ministry of Education’s attitude towards joint programmes and institutes is becoming more favourable.

However, the number is still less than half of those issued in 2013, the peak year for TNE approvals. In comparison to the 2012 – 2014 period, the Ministry of Education continues to pay close attention to new programmes’ compliance with the “four one-thirds” rules that set minimum standards for the number of modules and teaching hours delivered by the overseas partner, as well as strongly preferring subjects related to areas that are seen as important for local and national development goals.

Sources:

MoE announcement (Chinese): http://www.moe.gov.cn/srcsite/A20/moe_862/202104/t20210412_525925.html