Sino-foreign cooperation in education (part 1)

Sino-foreign cooperation in education has been under the spotlight. By injecting new methods and impetus into the running of schools and colleges, it heralds the internationalization of Chinese education and opens opportunities in the sector to foreign educational institutions. Over the past one decade, Sino-foreign cooperation in education has moved from initial controversy over autonomy in education, to deliberation about the quality of and prospects for cooperative educational institutions and projects, to the resumption by the Ministry of Education of approval of co-operative Sino-foreign education projects after a moratorium of four years.

This article will focus on the basic legal requirements for Sino-foreign cooperation in running schools. It will be followed in later issues by an analysis of operations and management, some common disputes that have arisen in respect of Sino-foreign cooperative education projects, and some ambiguous areas that remain to be clarified and legislated on.

Sino-foreign education

Sino-foreign cooperation in education usually involves Chinese and foreign educational institutions cooperating in organizing educational and teaching activities in China, for which Chinese citizens are recruited. As Chinese citizens are involved, Sino-foreign cooperation in education must meet the following legal requirements:

• the organizers of educational activities must be a Chinese educational institution and a foreign educational institution, each with legal person status;
• the relationship between the parties must be a cooperative one. Foreign educational institutions may not operate alone and may not establish joint ventures with Chinese educational institutions;
• target students to be enrolled must be predominantly Chinese citizens, and the educational and teaching activities must be carried out primarily in China; and
• the educational activities organized must not involve compulsory education or education of a special nature such as military, police or political education.

If a foreign education company does not function as an institution that conducts or engages in educational or teaching activities, it will not be qualified to be a foreign cooperative party in the education sector in China, regardless of whether it is an affiliated company of an overseas university or an education company formed by a foreign enterprise.

There is a problem with certification: how do the Chinese education authorities judge whether a foreign educational institution meets the required standards? The education authorities will generally judge on the basis of the certificate of the incorporation of the foreign educational institution, certification information provided by Chinese overseas embassies or consulates, and certification by a quality assurance body approved by the government in the country where the foreign educational institution is located.

Another issue is that foreign educational institutions have been troubled by questions over whether they can cooperate in education by making capital contributions only. As Sino-foreign cooperation in education aims to attract high-quality foreign educational resources, foreign educational institutions are not allowed to contribute funds only without participating in educational or teaching activities.

Mode of cooperation

Sino-foreign cooperation can take place in education and also in vocational skills training. In either field, Sino-foreign co-operation may take the form of a cooperative institution, or a cooperative project. The former involves the establishment of a Sino-foreign institution in China to conduct educational activities or vocational skills training, while the latter means a Sino-foreign educational institution conducts educational and teaching or vocational skills training activities by cooperating with professional institutions and organizations, instead of setting up a particular institution.

The education authorities are in charge of Sino-foreign cooperative educational institutions and projects, while the labour protection administrative department is responsible for the approval and regulation of Sino-foreign cooperative vocational skills training institutions and projects.

Cooperative institutions

Sino-foreign cooperative educational institutions that offer undergraduate or postgraduate education and grant academic and degree qualifications must first file an application with the provincial education department in the place where they intend to set up an institution. After assessing the application, the provincial education department will give its opinion which will be passed to the Ministry of Education for review. Sino-foreign cooperative educational institutions that offer technical education or non-degree higher education will be directly examined and approved by the provincial education department in the place where they intend to set up. Sino-foreign cooperative vocational skills training institutions will be examined and approved by the provincial labour protection administrative department in the place where they intend to set up. All applications for set-up approval must be filed by Chinese educational institutions with the relevant departments.

If the Chinese and foreign parties temporarily fail to meet the requirements for the establishment of a cooperative institution, they can first apply for provisional establishment. During a provisional approval period, the Sino-foreign cooperative educational institution may carry out preparatory work but should not enrol any students. It should file an application with the examination and approval authorities for official establishment within three years of the date of obtaining the approval letter for provisional establishment.

Cooperative projects

Similarly, Sino-foreign cooperative education projects that offer undergraduate or higher education and grant academic and degree qualifications must first file an application with the provincial education department for approval in the place where they intend to set up a project. The application will then be reviewed by the Ministry of Education. Sino-foreign cooperative education projects of other types will be directly examined and approved by the provincial education department in the place where the projects are to be established, and will be reported to the Ministry of Education for filing and registration. Sino-foreign cooperative vocational skills training projects will be examined and approved by the provincial labour administrative department in the place where the project is located.

Sally Wang is an associate at Martin Hu & Partners (MHP Law Firm)