China’s Ministry of Education has recently announced the approval of three new joint education institutes in Hainan province, all with UK partners. Joint institutes are an important form of transnational education in China, allowing Chinese and overseas partners to jointly deliver higher education across a range of different subject areas.
The three newly approved joint institutes are:
- Queen Mary School Hainan, Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications
- Offering bachelor’s degree programmes in information & computer science, digital media technology, and intelligent biomedical engineering
- Coventry College, Communication University of China
- Offering programmes from bachelor’s degree to PhD level in areas including product design, design management, computer science with artificial intelligence, and data science
- Glasgow College Hainan, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China
- Offering bachelor’s degree programmes in electronic engineering, telecommunications engineering, and microelectronic science & engineering
A joint bachelor’s degree programme in computer science & technology between Kaili University in Guizhou and the UK’s Arden University was also recently announced.
British Council Analysis
These approvals bring the total number of joint institutes in Hainan to 4, along with 8 individually-approved joint programmes. Chinese government policy supports international education on Hainan island, dating back to 2019 when the Ministry of Education declared the Implementation Plan to Further Promote Education Reform and Opening up in Hainan. The policy has set the goal to transform Hainan into an education innovation pilot island and advance the international education collaboration. In July 2021, the people’s government of Hainan province has issued the 14th Five Year Education Modernization Plan in Hainan. The plan stated that Hainan will introduce high-level higher education institutions (specifically for basic subjects, engineering, agriculture and medical science) and vocational institutions to set up independently operating institutions or joint education institutions.
As well as showing support for education internationalisation in Hainan, the recent approvals show a continued trend towards diversifying transnational education outside of Tier 1 cities in China as the government is promoting a balanced education resource distribution across the nation. UK institutions can seek collaboration opportunities in previously underestimated areas (such as Hainan, central and western regions) in subjects of science and technology, agriculture and medicine.
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