Summary:

China’s Ministry of Education has recently set out its priorities for the second phase of a plan to support universities in West and Central China. During the first phase of the plan the central government invested 5.6 billion RMB (£650 Mn) in 14 provincial universities, including one HEI in each province that does not have any Ministerial-level universities, as well as investing 10 billion RMB (£1.2 Bn) to support infrastructure investment in 100 universities in 24 central and western provinces.

As part of this plan, 11 "2011 collaborative innovation centres” have been established. The target of the plan is to create distinctive and high-level local HEIs in central and Western provinces by 2020. In addition, the plan supported 274,000 students in rural areas of central and western regions to enter higher education.

During the period of "13th Five Year Plan”, as well as the second phase of implementation of the “Revitalisation Plan”, the Ministry will give support for national key disciplines at HEIs in central and western provinces. Priority will be given to disciplines in the fields of science and engineering, especially those related to strategic emerging industries and supporting the needs of regional development. The Ministry will also strengthen the construction of national-level scientific research platforms, with more financial support for natural science and social sciences research projects. This support will cover both basic research and projects that serve the regional development of mid-western provinces. It will also encourage HEIs to develop closer links with local industry.

During the period of "13th Five Year Plan”, the Ministry will continue the fiscal investment in the 14 key universities under the “one province, one university” scheme, including Hebei University, Shanxi University, Inner Mongolia University, Nanchang University in Jiangxi, Zhengzhou University, Guangxi University, Hainan University, Guizhou University, Tibet University, Yunnan University, Qinghai University, Ningxia University, Xinjiang University, and Shihezi University in Xinjiang. It will also continue the second phase of the National Basic Capability Construction Project of Western and Central China (100 HEIs), and will increase financial support for students from families with economic difficulties and minority groups in western China.

The specific goal of the second phase of the revitalisation plan is to develop a number of top-level local universities with specific strengths. There is also a goal for some members of this group to become “world-class universities” by 2020, which will demonstrate the overall improvement of higher education in central and western provinces.

According to the Ministry of Education, since 2000, the majority of newly established undergraduate universities (51% of total) have been in central and western China.

Analysis by Kevin Prest and Xiaoxiao Liu:

China is investing heavily in improving higher education quality, and improving equality between the more developed coastal part of the country and the less wealthy central and western regions is also an important national priority. As a result, HEIs in these regions are seeing strong investment which is likely to lead to quality improvements. This will make universities in this area more attractive as potential partners for research and education partnerships.

Sources:

1. http://www.moe.gov.cn/jyb_xwfb/gzdt_gzdt/moe_1485/201702/t20170224_297305.html

2. http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2017-02/27/c_1120532533.htm

3. http://edu.china.com.cn/2017-02/26/content_40361375.htm

4. http://www.moe.edu.cn/jyb_xwfb/s5147/201607/t20160711_271349.html

5. http://www.gov.cn/zhengce/content/2016-06/15/content_5082382.htm

6. National Comprehensive Improvement Project of 14 Universities in Western and Central China (“one province, one university” - Z14): http://mwuu.gzu.edu.cn/

7. National Basic Capability Construction Project of Western and Central China (100 Universities): http://www.edu.cn/zxjh_12526/20130523/t20130523_947309.shtml