Summary

In a recent announcement, China's State Council has set out plans to increase the influence of provincial-level education authorities in the approval of transnational education partnerships. Among a variety of other measures, the State Council calls on education authorities to "explore the establishment of ministry-provincial joint approval systems" for joint programmes at the bachelor's degree level and above.

The document, "Announcement on Implementation Plans to Improve the Promotion of Consumption (2018-2020)", was issued in late September 2018 and includes instructions aimed across a wide range of sectors, aims to stimulate China's economy by encouraging consumption. Other measures related to international education include introducing suitable overseas resources into academic and vocational education and promoting the establishment of "high-quality" joint programmes and joint institutes with overseas HEIs. In the education field more broadly the announcement also instructs education authorities to accelerate measures to promote private education, to encourage cooperation between vocational education institutions and workplaces, and to support the expansion of pre-school education and early childhood education.

Analysis by Kevin Prest, Senior Analyst, International Education Services

Although the recent announcement does not provide any details as to how this joint approval should be structured, the instruction to give provincial-level authorities a greater role in TNE approval is likely to have a positive impact on the approval process. In recent years provincial authorities have often been much more enthusiastic about proposed transnational education partnerships than their ministerial-level counterparts.

Most other education-related instructions in the announcement, such as encouragement of private education, pre-school education expansion and the emphasis on "high-quality" TNE, are in line with previous policies. Although they signal the central government's continuing commitment to these goals, they are not likely to lead to any great changes in direction.

Source

State Council, Announcement on Implementation Plans to Improve the Promotion of Consumption (2018-2020) (in Chinese): http://www.gov.cn/zhengce/content/2018-10/11/content_5329516.htm