British HEI Oxford Brookes has expanded its agreements with Chengdu University of Technology in Sichuan province, with two new dual-degree programs approved by the Beijing government.
The institutions hope that at least 1,000 students will join the campuses to study either software engineering or computer science “over the next few years”.
“We look forward to this partnership with Chengdu continuing to flourish”
With the so-called Sino-foreign partnership, students will remain in China but study for both a UK and Chinese bachelor’s degrees. The agreements are all subject to Chinese Ministry of Education approval.
The partnership had previously run a single (though immensely popular) dual-degree on applied accountancy, a four-year program incorporating an English language and study skills foundation year.
Students on the BSc are awarded degrees from both institutions, but are also granted exemptions by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, who partner with the institutions providing the course to ensure the graduates are up to industry-standard. This means they are “well on the road to becoming qualified accountants”, according to Oxford Brookes.
Oxford Brookes’ vice-chancellor Alistair Fitt described the expansion of the partnership as a “big vote of confidence” in the HEIs provision in China.
“Having this institutional partnership approved is a big vote of confidence in the quality of education and the value of a degree from Oxford Brookes University. It is our ambition for Oxford Brookes Global to deliver the finest opportunities across the world, and we look forward to this partnership with Chengdu continuing to flourish,” said Fitt, who also chairs the UUKi TNE strategy group.
In the latest QAA report on British TNE provision in China the Oxford Brookes’ accountancy degree, in collaboration with the ACCA, and the University of Liverpool’s campus at Xi’an Jiaotong accounted for the majority of students studying for UK degrees in China.
In 2015 Oxford Brookes launched a Confucius Institute on campus, and it has a partnership with the Foreign Languages Teaching and Research Press at Beijing Foreign Studies University.
