According to analysis from the British Council, the approvals continue an upward trajectory after years of decline.
A total of 285 partnerships were approved in 2025, taking the total number of Sino-foreign partnerships in China to 1,589. The last time more than 200 approvals were recorded in a single year was 2012, according to consultancy China Education International.
China TNE experts are pointing to an improving policy environment, lingering financial pressures from the pandemic, and reputational reasons for the surge in approvals, but some warn to not expect the pattern to hold for long.
Up until 2024, TNE partnership approvals in China peaked in 2012. Between 2008 and 2012, the sector experienced a period of rapid growth, mirroring broader global enthusiasm for transnational education.
In the years that followed, approval numbers gradually declined. The pandemic further disrupted TNE development as China’s strict border controls and wider restrictions complicated international collaboration.
The increase in approvals may also reflect a backlog of applications. According to British Council analysts, applications that were under consideration around 2022 appear to have been put on hold while the MoE worked through a series of TNE policy reforms.
As those delayed applications are now being processed alongside newer submissions, approval numbers may be temporarily inflated.
Who is securing partnerships?
Newly approved partnerships were dominated by the UK, with over 40 UK-China partnerships appearing on the list.
British universities have long played a prominent role in China’s TNE sector, including through the establishment of Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University and the University of Nottingham Ningbo China, which opened in 2006 and 2004 respectively.
The US managed to establish some new partnerships despite continued political tensions between the two superpowers. Meanwhile, New Zealand secured more partnerships than the US, a development which has surprised some analysts.
Which partners gain approval matters because partnerships decisions appear to be more intentional than in the past. Grok Global China director Rita Ren highlighted that approvals are focused narrowly on targeted programs: “There appears to be a stronger focus on areas such as AI, technology, engineering and other fields that align with broader workforce and economic priorities.”
This echoes developments from the MoE over the past two years to focus on quality partnerships over quantity. This stemmed from concerns over quality standards in some joint programs and a wider push for ‘quality’ economic growth.
Where are the partnerships based?
The latest round of approvals is spread across much of China. In this round of new partnerships, only the westernmost provinces of Gansu, Ningxia, Xinjiang, Qinghai and Tibet are missing from the list.
While these regions are not hotspots of HE activity, some international partnerships do exist in the far Western provinces as part of the Belt and Road Initiative, China’s flagship economic development initiative which it began in 2013. Such partnerships tend to focus on Central Asian neighbours.
The biggest growth isn’t entirely centred on Tier 1 cities either. Shandong province has the largest number of new joint institutes and programs, its 10 new institutes and 18 new joint programs dwarfing Shanghai’s one new joint institute and one new joint program.
While it is perhaps unfair to compare a city to a province, Tier 1 cities have long been hubs of higher education and generally attract more attention.
Hainan, which three years ago was positioned as an emerging HE hub as part of its designation as a free trade zone, saw three new joint institute approvals and two new joint programs.
The province is relatively small by Chinese standards and is not traditionally known as a higher education hub. Hainan is home to the ‘international education island’ strategy, that offers more favourable regulations towards international education providers wishing to set up in China. Within its free trade port zone, international providers can operate independently of local partners.
Why the growth in partnerships now?
China TNE experts are pointing to finances and policy as the main drivers.
Financially speaking, Cheryl Yu, director at TNE Institute, says that the sector is still reeling from the damage of the pandemic. “Chinese universities after Covid are under financial pressure, so there is a financial motivation for Chinese universities to grow their TNE.”
China had some of the strictest social distancing rules globally, disrupting classes and access to university. International students were meanwhile entirely barred from entering the country after China shut its international borders.
“It is also important to look at how the Chinese government wants international education expenditure within China rather than outside of China,” continues Yu. The government increasingly wants to keep its students domestically, and TNE providers could be a way to tempt potential outbound students to stay at home.
The incentive to stay may also be growing stronger as more Chinese universities climb international rankings, potentially reducing some of the prestige historically associated with studying overseas.
But policy, analysts seem to agree, has the final say. Nous Group principal consultant Matt Durnin suggests that a rapid expansion of TNE partnerships could be on the cards for the MoE, on the back of softer policy.
“They’ve eased the approval process and seem to be making the regulatory environment more accommodating for foreign providers,” Durnin tells PIE.
Grok Global’s Ren agrees that policy signals in support of TNE started to improve last year, but warns against interpreting them as an opening of the floodgates to future approvals: “I haven’t seen a clear explanation from MoE, so I’d be cautious about drawing firm conclusions.”
