Minister for Universities and Science Jo Johnson and China’s Minister of Education signed an ambitious framework agreement on education collaboration at the third UK/China People to People Dialogue in London today (17 September).

A total of 23 education agreements were signed at the 8th UK-China Education Summit, part of the People to People dialogue, which will see UK universities and organisations working closely with partners in China to boost joint academic research and student exchange, and to establish new institutions.

Culminating in the signing of a ‘UK-China Strategic Framework in Education’ both countries announced their commitment to expanding collaboration across higher, vocational and school education, and to work closely together in sports education.

Minister for Universities and Science Jo Johnson said:

“Our relationship with China is entering a new phase of scientific and educational collaboration on an unprecedented scale. Our agreement will bring researchers together to address global challenges, change the lives of young people through better access to sports, and build partnerships across school, vocational and higher education to provide students in both countries with the right skills to become the leaders of the future.”

Ministers from both sides witnessed signings that will see the UK working with China in the development of its sports education, with a focus on football. A joint football accreditation system will be developed, opening doors for Chinese football coaches to be trained in the UK, feeding into a national drive by the Chinese government to grow its sports sector.

Agreements were also signed to increase exchanges among researchers in the UK and China and to build their skills to enable further collaborations.

In addition, links will be created between 200 schools in the UK and China to organise exchange visits and work together on policy and curriculum development, in an effort to improve the provision of high-quality basic education in both countries. STEM, language, sports, arts and other creative subjects will be a major focus of this collaboration.

Schools Minister Nick Gibb said:

“Education collaboration between the UK and China is vital if we are to learn from each other’s successes and to help us use international evidence of best practice to drive up academic standards in our schools.

“The innovative maths teacher exchange is already improving maths teaching in England’s primary schools, but there is still much more both countries can learn from one another.

“These new partnerships will allow us to share as well as helping to develop important language skills to secure stronger links in the future.”

The UK-China High-Level People-to-People Dialogue will also act as a springboard for the British Council, Association of Colleges and China Education Association for International Exchange to further their partnership activity through shared approaches to apprenticeships, employer engagement, curriculum development and leadership training. Over the past years, they have developed strong collaborative links in professional and technical training, which has helped to establish 60 college partnerships and regular leadership exchange opportunities. This has positively impacted on the mutual internationalisation of the UK’s and China’s respective skills sectors and deepened understanding and mutual respect for each other.

Following the UK-China Education Summit and High-Level People-to-People Dialogue was a day of roundtable discussions hosted in Cardiff. Representatives from both countries’ education sectors met to discuss how institutions in the UK and China can work together to improve the provision of higher education and support skills development. Vice-Premier of China Mdm Liu Yandong gave a closing keynote at a Forum on UK-China Innovation and Entrepreneurship jointly organised by British Council, Cardiff University and the China Education Association of International Exchange.

In her speech, Mdm Liu proposed the following 5 points for UK-China collaborations

• Mutual learning of culture ideology – treat each other as equals, be inclusive and learn from each other.
• Deepen our joint research in key areas. Focus on common global challenges and major issues affecting sustainable development.
• Joint training in talent development and innovation – step up cooperation and exchanges between universities, research and business. Step up cooperation among primary and secondary schools.
• Step up open access and sharing of innovation facilities and information. Jointly establish science infrastructures.
• Improve coordination mechanism for co-operation – to step up policy coordination and communication between the UK and China.

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Please refer to the attachment, for agreements on education signed at UK-China Education Summit and UK-China High-Level People to People Dialogue and announcements on education made at UK-China Education Summit.