On March 22, 2023, China’s Ministry of Education and the government of Hainan Province jointly issued the Interim Provisions on the Establishment of Educational Institutions by Overseas Higher Education Institutions in the Hainan Free Trade Port (Hainan FTP). Effective immediately, the new provisions allow overseas higher education institutions to set up “independent” schools, including campuses with their own legal personality, in the Hainan FTP, meaning that they are not obligated to collaborate with Chinese educational institutions as is typically required in other regions of mainland China. (Interim Provisions art. 2.) Chinese and other foreign entities or individuals may still participate by providing resources such as land, school buildings, and funding. (Art. 16.) These independently operated schools are restricted to offering one or more of the following disciplines: science, engineering, agriculture, and medicine. (Art. 2.)
“Overseas higher education institutions” refer to “high-level universities and vocational schools” established in other countries and in Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan. (Art. 2.) The president of the new schools, who may be appointed by the overseas higher education institution or selected by the new school’s decision-making body, must stay in China for no less than six months per year. (Art. 17.)
While these schools will be allowed to teach in their respective languages, they must also offer a certain proportion of courses taught in Chinese, as well as courses related to China’s constitution, laws, and civic and moral education, in accordance with the existing requirements for local educational institutions. (Arts. 20, 22.) The schools are encouraged to recruit international students in addition to Chinese students. (Art. 23.)
The purposes of the provisions are to “promote the opening-up of high-level education,” “serve the development of the Hainan FTP,” and “promote and regulate the establishment of educational institutions by overseas higher education institutions in the Hainan FTP.” (Art. 1.) Previously, on June 10, 2021, the Standing Committee of China’s National People’s Congress adopted a special Hainan FTP Law. Article 40 of that law provides that high-level foreign universities and vocational schools may set up schools of science, engineering, agriculture, and medicine in the Hainan FTP.
Laney Zhang, Law Library of Congress
May 25, 2023
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