Thanks to constant improvement in higher education in China, its colleges and universities have secured international approbation, and its attractiveness to international students has been enhanced. Since 2002 mutual recognition of degrees and certificates between China and foreign countries is a trend on the upswing. Now 38 countries and regions such as Germany, the U.K. and France have signed agreements on mutual recognition of degrees and certificates, marking international acknowledgement of China’s educational standards. Besides various curricula in science and engineering, such subjects as Chinese economics, Chinese politics and diplomacy, taught in English, are also popular among foreign students in China.

Foster International Talent

The year 1998 is the centenary of the founding of Peking University. Since 1998 more than 50 heads of state have delivered speeches at PKU, including former U.S. President Bill Clinton, former Russian President Vladimir Putin, former French President Jacques Chirac, and former Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda. Other notable public figures have visited the university to expand the frontier of academic inquiry and introduce international perspectives, such as former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, Microsoft president Bill Gates and financial tycoon George Soros.

The goal of PKU faculty is to offer every student at least one chance to study abroad. To date, PKU has signed intercollegiate exchange agreements with more than 260 colleges and universities abroad. Accordingly, students at PKU have the opportunity to apply for academic exchanges at top universities such as Yale, Australian National, and Tokyo. Moreover, PKU has established sabbatical opportunities with a dozen overseas universities.

Meanwhile half of the doctoral students at THU stand a chance of attending conferences or taking up studies abroad. About 30 percent of undergraduates get study abroad experiences. Each year some 2,000 graduate students participate in academic exchange activities abroad. THU covers the essential costs of these study and research terms. “Of all the ways to foster international talent, international competitions provide the largest share, then exchange student opportunities, then study abroad opportunities,” says Professor Shi Jinghuan. “Furthermore, international conferences, cooperative programs and short courses provide diversified ways to gain international experience at THU.”

In order to cultivate student research skills and their readiness for international academic exchanges, THU has opened 107 undergraduate and 10 graduate courses taught in English that help students to understand international academic trends and improve their level of professional English. For example, the Graduate School of Management of THU engages many foreign instructors, and more than 55 percent of its undergraduate courses are taught in English. In 2009, THU awarded 20 foreigners an honorary academic rank, and invited 810 overseas experts and instructors from 50 countries and regions.

By introducing high quality courses, inviting foreign instructors, and promoting inter-collegiate academic and cultural exchanges, China has established ties of educational cooperation with 188 countries and regions as well as 28 international organizations such as UNESCO (United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization).

According to Yu Lizhong, president of East China Normal University (ECNU), a university of good repute in southeast coastal China, ECNU began to build an international education park in 2006, which has made ECNU a lively source of international cultural exchanges. The park not only attracts a great number of foreign students, but also brings in various courses from abroad. For example, New York University opened 35 courses at ECNU, EMLYON Business School provides distance education to ECNU students, and credits are mutually transferable. By participating in such courses, students at ECNU receive an overseas education without going abroad.

By relying on their teaching and research strengths, top universities in China have developed extensive and thorough international cooperation mechanisms, which not only cultivate international-level talent in China, but also provide overseas students with opportunities to study here. More importantly, through such cooperation, Chinese universities make their contribution to scientific cooperation and cultural exchange worldwide.