Summary
China's Ministry of Education has announced that it has delegated the right to approve overseas travel of university staff to all of the universities it directly supervises. These universities previously had to request approval from the Ministry's Department of International Cooperation and Exchange for activities such as overseas research or training, but approval will now be given by the individual university.
Previously only 26 of the 75 universities directly under the control of the Ministry of Education had the right to directly approve overseas travel for their staff without permission from the Ministry.
Analysis by Kevin Prest, Senior Analyst, British Council International Education Services
The new policy will help to streamline overseas cooperation activity at China's ministerial-level universities, particularly for research partnerships which often involve Chinese academics going overseas. This change will help to reduce the delays and complicated procedures that the government approval process created.
Although only 49 institutions are affected by the new policy, this will have an outsized impact on research cooperation with the UK as ministerial-level universities tend to be highly prestigious and have more international activity than most of the country’s other universities. 48 of the affected universities are included in the country's World Class Universities and Disciplines project.
Source
Ministry of Education: 49 universities directly under the Ministry of Education granted certain foreign affairs approval rights (in Chinese) - http://www.moe.gov.cn/jyb_xwfb/s5147/201911/t20191104_406761.html