Education to China

(Last updated: 03 Mar 2008)

Trends and opportunities

The market

Despite the size and diversity of China’s education system, there is substantial demand for overseas education due to a small number of places available per capita. Since most urban families have only one child because of China’s family planning policy, parents tend to give their children the best education they can. Recent surveys have indicated that children’s education is the top investment priority of Chinese families, ahead of buying houses, saving for retirement and all other investment options.

China has an excellent education system; however, China’s domestic education system struggles to expand to meet demand. There are currently not enough places for students wishing to enter university for the 150 million people in the 17–24 age group looking for opportunities in higher education.

In addition to the fierce competition for university places, China has also realised the importance of vocational and adult education. There is a potentially huge demand from mature age students (ie. 24 years and over) that is currently not being met.

The role of the government in China is far more substantial than in Australia and there is government involvement in most activities that involves foreigners or overseas organisations. The government relationship is crucial, both for student flows to Australia and for all other aspects of the Australian education relationship, including the in-China provision of courses.

Higher education comprises junior college (the equivalent to a diploma in Australia), Bachelor, Master and Doctoral degree programs. In 2006, there were 1,147 junior colleges and 720 universities countrywide offering 5,460,500 places for junior college and bachelor programs; 56,000 places for doctoral programs; and 342,000 places for master programs. Included in these colleges and universities are more than 317 research institutions approved by the Ministry of Education.

Medium level colleges offer certificate courses which, however, cannot be converted into diploma courses. The medium level professional schools and technical colleges offer basic to intermediate vocational training, both long term and short-term courses. Since the 1980s, there has been a rapid increase in the level of government recognition regarding the importance of Chinese vocational and technical education, and there has also been a sharp increase in the number of students attending such courses. 

In 2006, there were 18.1 million students enrolled in 14,693 vocational and technical schools nationwide.

Higher level vocational and technical schools cater for more sophisticated vocational training such as IT or sophisticated manufacturing. The courses can also generally be taken at diploma level. There are currently 921 higher level vocational and technical education institutions in China.

Competitive environment

Australia is one of the leading foreign providers of courses in China. During the last five years, there has been a dramatic increase in student visa applications to study in Australia.

Tariffs, regulations and customs

The Chinese Government introduced laws to regulate the activities of agencies providing advice to Chinese students about going overseas to study. These laws regulate the activities of student recruitment agencies in China, not students or overseas institutions.

The laws require agencies to be registered with the National Government, via a process of nominations from provincial/municipal authorities. No foreign organisations are permitted and unapproved agents are prevented from advertising. The laws prevent agents from actively recruiting students at secondary schools (children under 15 years of age).

According to the regulations issued by the Ministry of Education, if joint venture schools
issue foreign academic degrees they must have approval from the Ministry. Local educational institutions are required to obtain approval for degree conferment before they sponsor schools with their foreign counterparts.

The Chinese Government does not allow international education providers to be involved in the education activities during the nine-year compulsory education period unless the students are non-Chinese nationals.

Industry standards

All Australian providers who advertise their courses in China must be registered with the Commonwealth Register of Courses and Institutions for Overseas Students (CRICOS). All institutions offering courses in China must also have a local education institution as a partner.

Marketing your products and services

Market entry

The most efficient way for Australian education institutions to enter the education market is to appoint an agent in China.

Another effective way to enter the China market is to join the Australian Pavilions at either or both of the major education exhibition roadshows in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, plus 1-2 regional cities in China. 

The first one, the China International Education Exhibition Tour (CIEET) is held in spring (usually around early March), and the Australian Pavilion is organised by Austrade and supported by Australian Education International (AEI). The second one – the China Education Expo (CEE) is held in autumn (usually late October), and the Australian Pavilion is organised by IDP, and mainly focuses on Australian universities.

General information:

• Only approved agents can provide service to students on studying overseas.
• The agents charge a service fee to give advice to students.
• Nearly 400 agents are approved by the Chinese Ministry of Education.
• A full list of Ministry of Education approved agents is available from AEI Beijing.  Providers seeking to deal with agencies that claim to have national approval should refer to this list.
• Very few private companies have been granted approvals.
• Most approved organisations have links to the Ministry of Education or provincial education departments, or are international offices of local universities and colleges.

China is a very large and diverse market and the education needs vary in different provinces. The affluent provinces and municipalities of Shanghai, Beijing, Guangdong and Fujian account for 48 per cent of all students. Other provinces such as Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Shandong, Liaoning, Henan and Hubei are also major contributors of students.

Institutions need to market products according to the various needs of different provinces and municipalities. For example, Beijing is very much a postgraduate market while some of the other provincial cities (eg. Qingdao and Chengdu) appear to be more focused on high school education.

Currently, distance education and net schools are being trialled in China. Any institution that wishes to start distance education in China must seek approval from the Ministry of Education.

Distribution channels

Local agents are the most popular channel to market institutions. Only government-approved agents can help foreign institutions to give advice to Chinese students.

In identifying local partners for degree education, please note that only those local institutions that are registered and approved by the Ministry of Education can issue foreign academic degrees. Otherwise, the degree will not be recognised by the Ministry.

Austrade recommends that anyone wanting to enter or expand their operations in China refers to the following publications by AEI China:

• Market overview: People’s Republic of China
• Country regulatory and business fact sheet
• Country education profile

Please note that access to these publications is on a registration and subscription basis.

Links and industry contacts

Education–related resources

China education – www.hku.hk/chinaed
China education system, university list – www.index-china.com/index-english/education-s.htm
Liuxue51.com – www.liuxue51.com/en/homepage
Sinopolis.com – www.sinopolis.com/EDU/educate.htm
Chinese Ministry of Education International Education Affairs Management and Supervision – www.jsj.edu.cn (Chinese only)

China Education Association for International Exchange (CEAIE) – www.ceaie.edu.cn
37 Damucang Hutong
Beijing 100816
Tel: +86 10 6641 6583
Fax: +86 10 6641 6156

Beijing Education Association for International Exchange (BEAIE)
Tel: +86 10 6601 7136
Fax: +86 10 6601 7157

Shanghai Education Association for International Exchange (SEAIE) – www.seaie.org
Tel: +86 21 5213 7878 
Fax: +86 21 6255 3983

Government, business and trade resources for China

Ministry of Education – www.moe.edu.cn/english
Division of America and South Pacific
Department of International Cooperation and Exchange
Tel: +86 10 6609 6978
Fax: +86 10 6601 3647

Australian Embassy in Beijing – www.china.embassy.gov.au

Media

China Education information – www.chedu.com
China Education News – www.jyb.com.cn/cm/jycm/beijing/zgjyb/ (Chinese only)
Ep-China – www.ep-china.net (Chinese only)
The Committee of Advancing Chinese Education Net – www.cnedu.org (Chinese only)

Australian resources

Australian Education International (AEI) – www.aei.dest.gov.au/AEI/default.htm
Australian Government Department of Immigration and Citizenship – www.immi.gov.au